How To Know When To Harvest Beets - Growfully

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Love them or hate them—it seems like there is no in-between with beets! But if you’re in the “hate them” camp and have never tried garden-fresh beets, we encourage you to give them a go!

Growing beets is a breeze, and the key to sweet, tender, flavorful beets is choosing the exact right time to harvest beets to maximize their delicious taste. Let us show you when and how to harvest them so they’ll satisfy beet-lovers and beet-haters alike!

What month do you harvest beets?

Beets are a cool-weather vegetable that is typically ready to harvest in late spring or during the fall months, depending on when you planted your beets.

Why are my beets growing above ground?

As beet roots start to bulb, they tend to push out of the ground and show off their round bulbs. This is a good sign, it means your beets are ready to harvest!

How do I know when my beets are ready to harvest?

Beets are one of those magical vegetables that you can harvest and enjoy at any stage of growth. In fact, the sweetest garden beets are often much smaller than the beets you’d pick up from the grocery store. Anything over 2″ in diameter is a good time to pull up and enjoy. Try not to let your beets get larger than 3-4″ in diameter—that’s when they tend to get tough and start to lose their sweetness.

How long can beets stay in the ground?

Like carrots, beets do a great job of storing in the garden—with one caveat. They will keep growing during warm weather, which can eventually render your beet too large and tough to be enjoyable.

How many beets do you get from one plant?

Just one beet comes from each beet plant. However, a single beet seed (which is actually a capsule of multiple seeds) can sprout multiple beet plants during germination.

Can you harvest beet greens before the root?

You can harvest beet greens early, just with a little caution! You want to leave enough greens to allow the plant to still pump energy to the root, so harvest one or two greens from each beet instead of lopping off all the greens from one root.

Growfully Protip

When harvesting just beet greens, clip the larger, outside layers of leaves first—leaving the inner leaves intact to keep growing.

How to Harvest Beets

1. Harvest beets when they are around 2″ in diameter.
2. Grasp the base of the greens snuggly, and pull the beet out of the ground.
3. Dust off any soil on the root. Do not wash the roots until you are ready to use, because the excess moisture can cause premature rotting.

Growfully Protip

When separating the greens from the beetroot, twisting the greens off instead of slicing them off tends to result in less bleeding (which means less staining!).