Indoor Kitchen Gardening Handbook

ABUNDANT GREENS, BUT MINIMAL BEET GROWTH This can happen when too much nitrogen is in the soil. Most likely, you’ve been overfertilizing,

Like carrots, beets do better when the greens are upright, so “hill up” the greens by adding more soil around them and forming a larger base for them until they stand up.

Rotate your container if you have it in front of a window instead of under a light. Greens tend to lean toward the light source, which is fine if it’s directly overhead, but can be stressful on the plant if it’s always on one side of the pot.

Water regularly—unlike some crops that should be watered when the soil is particularly dry, beets do well with a predictable watering schedule. This will help them to grow more quickly. Don’t overwater, though. If greens begin looking yellowish, let the plant dry out a bit.

you might consider a soilless mix like compost and sand mixed together, or at least putting some vermiculite in your potting mix to allow for more drainage. I’ve had success with an indoor potting soil mix combined with some vermiculite, and putting coir at the bottom of the

Beets do well in loose soil,

terra cotta pots are less ideal because they tend to draw moisture from the soil, but with a regular watering schedule, this is less important than it would be for something like lettuces.

Trays, Pots, and Other Containers Even with smaller varieties, beets need ample room to grow because their taproot (the thing that looks like a long rat’s tail) can extend quite a bit into earth. Because of that, use containers that are at least 16 inches (40 cm) deep.

BEETS