Has anyone planted beets in containers?

[maddie]

I love beets and carrots. I wonder if you could plant them in containers. Has anyone tried this here? Please give me some tips from your experience.

 

[Jed]

I can't see why not. I haven't tried it but I suggest you use pots that are 8 to 12 inches deep for the root ball to grow well. There are small varieties of beets that may be better suited. Ensure you use a good potting mix which drains well. If you use your own soil ensure it's light and free of rocks.Water well as long as the pot drains. Don't over fertilize with nitrogen or you will get more leaf than beet. They also prefer a neutral to slightly alkaline soil.You can eat every part of the beet leaves and all. Good luck
I noticed you also asked about carrots. I would do the same as with beets and again try the stumpy varieties.

 

[lovinglife]

Also, the beet greens, are GREAT in green smoothies, just snipe a leaf here and there while waiting for the beets to grow. Just another great source of greens, and so full of good vitamins and minerals.

 

[maddie]

I can't see why not. I haven't tried it but I suggest you use pots that are 8 to 12 inches deep for the root ball to grow well. There are small varieties of beets that may be better suited. Ensure you use a good potting mix which drains well. If you use your own soil ensure it's light and free of rocks.Water well as long as the pot drains. Don't over fertilize with nitrogen or you will get more leaf than beet. They also prefer a neutral to slighly alkaline soil.You can eat every part of the beet leaves and all. Good luck
I noticed you also asked about carrots. I would do the same as with beets and again try the stumpy varieties.

Thanks Jed, that makes growing beets and carrots sound easy. Deep pots may not be an issue, but I cannot have very wide pots due to the lack of space. I do not like to use chemicals for my vegetables. I may have to use leaf mulch and wormy compost that is easy available here with some gardening soil. Thanks for those valuable tips. I will try them out after finding more information about the planting season locally.
@lovinglife I love to cook beet leaves, a great source of calcium and iron. Thanks for the input.

 

[lovinglife]

You should try them raw in a smoothie...... all the health benefits..

 

[ChanellG]

I read an article recently that listed everything you could grow indoors in containers and beets was one of the foods, but it has to be a variety that grows well in containers. It can definitely be done though.

 

[maddie]

I am going to try it once the weather gets a little warmer. I love beets and love their leaves too.
I think I will grow them in a sack.just two or three at the most. I do not have any space at all at the moment.
I guess I would check out the leaves in the smoothies. I don't think it will gain acceptance overnight in my home... but it is still worth the try.

 

[ChanellG]

That's a good idea! I have been looking into "green" alternatives to plastic pots and containers and I was thinking a canvas tote bag might work out well. I have heard of people having success with potatoes in sacks, why not beets? I tried beet greens for the first time last year. I think the only way to have enough for a meal is to grow them yourself.

 

[maddie]

Those sacks are cheap and easy to use and reuse until the come apart. I think you could get them for free, here we do. If they are in sacks they will fit in easily into any shaped space. With space being scare resource as far as my garden is concerned sacks will come in handy.
Do beet like being in the sun? I need to check out, I will read up some information before I go planting.

 

[Jed]

If you want the best success growing silver beet and beetroot in pots I suggest you you use a lot of lime. These vegies are lime lovers. There's a tendency for soil in pots to go acidic.

 

[maddie]

Thanks Jed, you always come up with some sterling tips. I will remember this.
I had noticed that my hydrangeas where not blue any more and added some powdered calcium tablets to my pots and the flowers were blue again. I read that these plants need more alkaline soil to produce blue flowers. This was just a trial and it worked.

 

[ChanellG]

Thanks Jed, you always come up with some sterling tips. I will remember this.
I had noticed that my hydrangeas where not blue any more and added some powdered calcium tablets to my pots and the flowers were blue again. I read that these plants need more alkaline soil to produce blue flowers. This was just a trial and it worked.

Were these calcium tablets like the kind you would take as a nutritional supplement or something you bought at a nursery that is especially for plant use? How many did you use? I'm guessing you crushed them yourself.

 

[Jed]

Were these calcium tablets like the kind you would take as a nutritional supplement or something you bought at a nursery that is especially for plant use? How many did you use? I'm guessing you crushed them yourself.

I've never come across these tablets. They may be calcium carbonate in a smaller tablet form which I suspect that you do crush first.


I generally use builders lime/ slake lime (calcium hydroxide), and with care. I wear a dust mask and gloves. It's very reactive and works fast in the soil and requires to be watered in well. It is very soluble. You can also use a dolomite lime (calcium magnesium carbonate) which is slower reacting and has the benefit of magnesium. It's crushed limestone whereas builders lime is burnt limestone called quick lime (calcium oxide) and is then hydrated with water so as to make it much safer to use. There are various opinions whether it's organic or not. I have no problem using it as no chemicals have been added, only fire and water. It comes in 20kg bags and costs about $12. There is also agricultural lime (calcium carbonate) and this is very safe but takes longer to dissolve. It's basically crushed chalk like they used to use in schools on blackboards.
Liming up your soil for planting vegetables is something to remember to do every year, as most soils have a tendency to go acidic.

 

[maddie]

Were these calcium tablets like the kind you would take as a nutritional supplement or something you bought at a nursery that is especially for plant use? How many did you use? I'm guessing you crushed them yourself.

Chanell, these were the same supplement I was taking. Yes, I crushed them myself. Since all m y plants are in containers and this one is 8x4 inches diameter pot I used about eight- ten of those. Since These had to be thrown away, I used them for my plants.


@Jed I may never need those quantities of lime. I am not sure if you could get smaller quantities of lime here locally. Sometimes I just use some chalk/ chalk powder by diluting it in water.
I guess you need to find innovative ways to garden in the city. My needs are so small and most garden shops or nurseries here will not sell me stuff in small quantities.

 

[ChanellG]

Thanks Maddie! Calcium tablets are easy enough to get and seem like an simple way to amend the soil if needed. I just saw an article on growing beets in containers that I thought might interest you:
http://www.helium.com/items/1596711...ots-urban-gardening-harvesting-sowing-storing

 

[maddie]

Thank you ChannelG, I appreciate the help. I found the link pretty useful. I shall look around those varieties mentioned. I thought I would actually grow a couple of beets from the market bought organic ones. This is like a test run. I do not have any space right now. My balconies and window sills are full with plants. Let me see how this goes.

 

[ChanellG]

You're welcome Maddie. I am in a similar situation with lack of space. My latest experiment is with rice, though now that the temperature is starting to drop I am not sure what will happen even with my indoor plants. I don't like for the house to be too warm, but I am not ready to go out and invest in a bunch of lights, etc.

 

[headfullofbees]

There is a problem here:
the pH of the soil has to be low in order that hydrangeas can absorb the aluminium required to turn the flowers blue, yet calcium, as an alkaline metal, will RAISE the ph!!!

There must be something else going on to turn your hydrangeas blue.

 

[headfullofbees]

I've grown both beetroot and chantennay carrots in containers.
I didn't get a huge yield of carrots, but the flavour was strong and delicious.

 

[southernmom3]

I have never tried growing them at all. I would love to be able to grow them in a container. Thanks for the idea!