Heirloom Early Wonder Beet Seeds | Grow Early Wonder Beets

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Beets: Early Wonder Beet (5g, 260 seeds)

Heirloom Early Wonder Beet Seeds | Grow Early Wonder Beets

Our Price: $1.95

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Product Code: EARLY_WONDER

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Description

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Early Wonder is an excellent beet for greens or bunching. This early variety is great for the home garden and good for canning. High quality greens.

Flattened globe shaped roots are dark purplish-red in color. Average: 48 days

Detailed planting instructions:

Plant in early spring, as soon as you can work the soil, ¾ inch deep and 1 inch apart in rows 12 to 18 inches apart. For continuous harvest, make successive plantings every three weeks until midsummer. For winter storage, sow crop about 10 weeks before heavy freeze.

The wrinkled “seedball” usually contains two to four viable seeds, making it necessary to thin to 3- to 4-inch spacings if you plan to harvest young, small or cylindrical-shaped roots, or 6-inch spacings for larger roots for winter storage.

Begin thinning when seedlings are about 4 to 5 inches tall, and eat the thinnings. Cut rather than pull plants when thinning to avoid disturbing roots of other plants.

Unlike most root crops, beets can be started inside or in cold frames and transplanted into the garden.

Use floating row covers to discourage insects early in the season.

Keep well-weeded. Competition and uneven watering can make beets stringy and tough.

Beets are closely related to Swiss chard and spinach. Avoid following these crops in rotation.

Beets tolerate average to low fertility. Too much nitrogen will encourage top growth at the expense of root development.

Best color and flavor develop under cool conditions and bright sun. When beets mature in warm weather, they are lighter colored, have less sugar and have more pronounced color zoning in the roots. Fluctuating weather conditions produce white zone rings in roots.

Beets are biennials. Normally, they produce an enlarged root during their first season. Then after overwintering they produce a flower stalk. If they experience two to three weeks of temperatures below 45 F after they have formed several true leaves during their first season, a flower stalk may grow prematurely. Many newer varieties are less sensitive to this problem.

HARVESTING

Beets can be harvested whenever they grow to the desired size. About 60 days are required for beets to reach 1 1/2 inches in diameter, the size often used for cooking, pickling or canning as whole beets. Beets enlarge rapidly to 3 inches with adequate moisture and space. With most varieties, beets larger than 3 inches may become tough and fibrous. Beets may be stored in a polyethylene bag in a refrigerator for several weeks. Beets also may be stored in outdoor pits if the beets are dug before the ground freezes in the fall. Cut off the tops of the beets one inch above the roots. Beets store best at 32°F and 95 percent humidity. Do not allow them to freeze.

When harvesting beets, separate the green tops from the roots leaving an inch of stem on the beet. Beets larger than 3 inches in diameter are often fibrous and woody. Beet greens are packed with nutritional value but must be prepared separately. Upon storage the greens will quickly draw the moisture from the root greatly reducing flavor and the beets will become shriveled. Leave one inch stem and the taproot intact to retain moisture and nutrients. After separating, beets store well for about a week in perforated plastic bags in the refrigerator. Use beets while they are still firm and fresh.

SAVING SEEDS

Saving beet seeds is a two-year project because this biennial doesn't flower and produce its seed clusters until the next growing season. Tie up the stalks to stakes when they become floppy, look for blossoms in June and July, and harvest the seeds in August. Cut off the tops and allow them to dry under cover, then strip off the seeds. Restrict yourself to a single variety each year if you will be saving seeds, beet seeds have a talent for cross-pollination over distances of a mile or more.

Features

Comes in E-Z Lock resealable, reusable triple-layered foil packets
Seeds are open pollinated and can be grown, harvested, and replanted endlessly
Dried & sealed airtight for long-term storage
Nutritional value:

Average Customer Review:

5 of 5

| Total Reviews: 8 Write a review.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Great for a new gardener	May 20, 2013
Reviewer: stephanie adams from burkburnett , TX United States

i ordered these beets and was greatly suprised by how fast they grew and how well they tasted. my only problem is that i live in texas and can only get one early and one late crop out of them since they are a cold weather crop. i imagine they would be awesome further north

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Gift Order	March 31, 2013
Reviewer: Deborah Eschborn from Warren, PA United States

Given as gift and person was so happy to receive.

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Shipment & Quality	March 27, 2013
Reviewer: Judy Stearns from Clearwater, NE United States

My order was shipped out extremely fast & the order was packaged so I could check off what I ordered to what was sent, really like that, & since I haven't planted anything yet as I am in NE, I can't wait, very happy with the price & the packaging.

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

excellent product, great price!	February 4, 2013
Reviewer: V from Fort Walton Beach, FL United States

Product came in and I was so excited as product perfectly packaged. Great company great service! Thank you :-)

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

great	June 13, 2012
Reviewer: connie ledford from signal mtn, TN United States

Big.beautiful bug free leaves and beets

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