I'm not unhappy with Boltardy, it grew well in the flowerbeds at home and on the allotment, I like the taste and it's pretty much indestructible/fool-proof...... but.....
I'd like a monogerm and a bigger crop though my experiments with Cylindra have never been very rewarding.....
So to recap, a monogerm, stump-rooted idiot-proof beetroot.... is there one?
chrisc
I grew crimson globe this year
i was well inpressed
Solo is quite good too!
Modena; (af) Medium early maturity,monogerm,dark red internal colouring,globe shape.
Moneta;(af) Monogerm, smooth skinned, round roots, deep red, maincrop.
Monodet;(af) A monogerm globe beet.
Monogram;(af) Monogerm,good vigour,smooth skin,RHS Award Of Merit.
Monopoly;(af) Monogerm, resistant to bolting.
Moronia;(aa) Monogerm cylindrical shape,high quality roots,good flavour.
I tried growing Crimson Globe the germination was very good but the did not grow very large not even as big as a tennis ball, do they need anything special, They had plenty of water.
Hmm... will have to look at Moronia and Monooly then..... three rows of beetroot ... or more likely, a row of Boltardy and a half-row each of the other two.... will start looking for seed in swaps as soon as Digeroos parcel has swung past......
chrisc
Quote from: aggie on November 27, 2009, 12:23:41
I tried growing Crimson Globe the germination was very good but the did not grow [very large not even as big as a tennis ball, do they need anything special, They had plenty of water.]
How big do you want a beetroot to be ??? ???
and they taste better smaller ::)
I have a friend who lives in Sussex and his beetroots are enormous, I must admit mine are very tastey. I just thought you would all grow large beets
Quote from: aggie on November 27, 2009, 23:03:26
[I have a friend who lives in Sussex and his beetroots are enormous, I must admit mine are very tastey. I just thought you would all grow large beets
]
its baby beets and enormous pumpkins for me ;D ;D ;D
Aggie I don't let any variety I grow get any bigger than the size of a tennis ball, and usually harvest them when smaller! I reckon that they taste much better, and of course they cook a lot quicker.
A plot neighbour lets his grow the size of a pineapple!
I shall be satisfied with the size mine grow in future. and you are right the bigger they are the longer they take to cook.
Quote from: Flighty on November 28, 2009, 08:43:13
Aggie I don't let any variety I grow get any bigger than the size of a tennis ball, and usually harvest them when smaller! I reckon that they taste much better, and of course they cook a lot quicker.
A plot neighbour lets his grow the size of a pineapple!
A tennis ball!? I never let mine get anywhere near that sort of size. A snooker ball at the very most I think. I did cylindra and boltardy this year and both did well. Might try something different next summer though.
What is the tastiest beetroot you have grown?
I really like the taste of golden beetroot! :)
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,52933.0.html
Beetroot is one of those veg where bigger doesn't mean better. Same with runner beans, the smaller ones are always the tastiest.
:P :P :P
I agree that golden beetroot taste better in stews - they hold their flavour and look better too because they don't bleed.
The pink-ringed and white ones are well worth growing for stews because they don't bleed either and the yield is better.
However mine are never as sweet as the red ones for eating raw - and the reds are really good shredded raw - even better in coleslaw.
All kinds are brilliant as crisps - much better than potatoes!
I like the golden ones too, but I don't think it's just a case of 'less sweet'. They have some other flavour, more fragrant or even mildly spicy to me, hard to describe, definitely different.
but then I'm not a big fan of intensely sugary vegetables like supersweet sweetcorn either
Please can someone explain monogerm/multigerm? What are the benefits of one over the other? Sorry if I am being thick!
Thanks.
I'd like to know as well InfraDig :)
Quote from: InfraDig on December 01, 2009, 08:52:25
Please can someone explain monogerm/multigerm? What are the benefits of one over the other? Sorry if I am being thick!
Thanks.
The standard old-fashioned beetroot sed is actually a rather corky structure containing several actual seeds. Monogerm varieties were bred (mostly for the commercial boys) so that each seed drilled in would only produce one plant, saving on either a back-breaking manual thinning operation or the yield reduction caused by having a bunch of plants all growing on one station.....
I grew Boltardy this year because it was in a seed collection I bought on ebay and although I was very happy with the results there was a signficant amount of faff early on reducing the seedlings down to one per module, in some cases I didn't succede.... Unlike onions where there is significant overall yield increase for having 3 or 4 plants pers station (even if the actual plants are smaller the total crop weight is higher) beetroot don't seem to take kindly to it so the choice is 3 ping-pong balls or a decently sized beet....
chrisc
All is clear. Thank you very much. I hadn't realised that!
A multigerm beet (the 'normal' sort) is several seeds fused into a lump. So you plant one, and several plants may come up, which then need to be thinned. A monogerm variety is a single seed. You plant it and only one comes up, so it doesn't need thinning.
When you say "fused", can the seeds be split up, with, say, gentle rolling?
Quote from: InfraDig on December 01, 2009, 15:27:52
When you say "fused", can the seeds be split up, with, say, gentle rolling?
Possibly but you'd have the devils own job distinguishing a seed frmo a lump of the corky stuff that binds them up together. Monogerm just gets round all that in one swell foop...
chrisc
You'd spend forever trying to separate multigerm seeds, and probably not get anywhere. better to plant them normally and thin, or use a monogerm if you don't want to be bothered.
seems a bit complicated, i never thin then I just plant them with 2/3 inches between the next one in the row and 12 inches between the rows
The beets seem to find their space and i start taking them when they are a useable size = golfball and so on until they are all gone - eating as fressh every week and pickling those I dont eat fresh
This year I have now 23 x 1 litre jars of pickled beetroot - enough for the rest of the winter/spring season and then 1 will have fresh crops
dax
What a beautiful cat, my beetroots just didn't grow this year, I watered them, perhaps too much. Will just check the seed packet, think it was a freeby. The allotment next to me that doesn't visit that often had beautiful beetroot. Not fair.
I sow them like Daxzen, perhaps not so much between rows. carefully spaced they don't need too much thinning, and pulling every other one give the others a chance to grow a bit more. And sowing in succession is a good tip too, though we have lost quite a few to slugs and snails this year. >:( >:( >:(
i have been lucky with beetroot over the years
i always water the sol before i sow and that's it - they fend for emselves
tough love!
my cat is a ragdoll - we have three - loverly gentle boys they are
mustn't forget the 10 yar old house rabbit - he loves beetroot too!
dax
I started my beetroot in a seed tray and then transplanted them. For an experiment really. It worked. Was I just lucky?
We grow Sanguina from Real seeds and it always does the job.
Quote from: InfraDig on December 02, 2009, 16:03:42
I started my beetroot in a seed tray and then transplanted them. For an experiment really. It worked. Was I just lucky?
I don't know if it is right or wrong but that is what I did and they came up trumps ;D
Quote from: InfraDig on December 02, 2009, 16:03:42
I started my beetroot in a seed tray and then transplanted them. For an experiment really. It worked. Was I just lucky?
It's how I gow Boltardy... one seed per module, try to thin the clumps in th emodules, plant out at 6" gaps in foot spaced rows.... but I was rubbish with them and they were too long in the modules. alternately drowned or scorched and some ended up in a flowerbed.... and I still got good beetroot.....:D
It's the issues with thinning that lead me to look for a monogerm and the fact that I'm hoarding the last bottle for Christmas leads me to stumo-roots to increase the crop without taking up more space.... though if more space is needed I'll find it......
chrisc
Do seed tapes have monogerm seeds in them. I believe you don't have to thin?
Me too Shilton, I've grown Sanguina for the last two years and had exellent beetroot
they don't grow to big and the flavour is great
Quote from: tomatoada on December 03, 2009, 13:54:39
Do seed tapes have monogerm seeds in them. I believe you don't have to thin?
I don't know if they are monogerm on the tapes but they will like onions grow out from each other as they get bigger... :-\
Quote from: daxzen on December 02, 2009, 13:29:47
The beets seem to find their space and i start taking them when they are a useable size = golfball and so on until they are all gone - eating as fressh every week and pickling those I dont eat fresh
I did this as well and it worked quite good for me. I grew some choggia and golden for the first time as well. The choggia yield was crazy!
QuoteI grew some choggia and golden for the first time as well.
Choggia is nice raw, but I did not eat all I produce. Germination of Golden did not seem to be as good as red so I found it did not need much thinning. Seems to produce golf ball size quite easily. Love the taste. Definitely on the list for next year.
Right I'm going to ask a divvy question
How can you tell if they are monogerm or not. I've looked at the packets of beetroot that I have and none of them mention owt to do with it ???
Hope you get a reply to this question.
Quote from: 1066 on December 14, 2009, 07:05:12
Right I'm going to ask a divvy question
How can you tell if they are monogerm or not. I've looked at the packets of beetroot that I have and none of them mention owt to do with it ???
Most of the beetroot varieties that start with the letters "Mo" are monogerms...
Moronia, Moneta, Monopoly.... it's a common theme ..... otherwise wikipedia and google are your very good friends.....
Aaaahhhhhhh - thanks for the info ChrisCross
Not sure I want google and wikki as my good friends tho ;) ::)
Another thanks from me. Got my seed catalogues out and there they were.