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11 May 14 Rana (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate)

How is it that some of us can't grow beets? I( and some of my gardening friends) follow all the advice and all I get is luscious leaves and thin dry beet. only about 0.01% grow to something less than a golf ball size and that takes much longest that the 7- 10 weeks mentioned.

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21 Jul 15 Heidi (New Zealand - temperate climate)

I couldn't grow it for years, though I kept trying because sometimes it seemed like I was achieving some improvement. Then I went through a period of getting the foodscraps from a shop and feeding them to the chickens, though most ended up being dug under the soil. The soil was teeming with worms all the time. Within a year, I was growing good beetroot. I think the amount of organic matter made the difference. Now I'm not getting the foodscraps anymore, and my beetroot is average. I'd suggest digging your food scraps under the soil and letting it compost there rather than in a pile or bin, and see if that helps. I'd love to hear whether it does.

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12 May 14 Gary (Australia - temperate climate)

I have the same problem. I have persevered over the years and have only been able to grow a half decent crop a couple of times. I don't over feed them as I think that would make for more leafy growth. I do mix compost in my garden soil. My daughter has success with her beetroot and she uses virtually the same soil mixture and only lives around the corner so it's not different climates

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