Yellow Beets: How To Cultivation & Care In The Garden

Yellow beets taste milder and sweeter than their red relatives. We show you how you can easily grow, harvest, and use yellow beets in the garden. For many people, the classic beets belong on the table in autumn. Her sister, the yellow beets, adds a color accent. How it differs from the beets, how to grow and use it in your own garden, you can find out in this article.

Yellow beets: profile and characteristics

The yellow beets originally come from the Mediterranean region, probably from North Africa. The Romans spread it from there to the whole of the Roman Empire 2000 years ago and thus also reached the USA. The intense colors of today’s varieties, both yellow, red, and white beets, come from cultivars. They differ largely from the wild form, the wild beets.

There are many similarities between red and yellow beets, but also a few differences. Apart from the clear color difference, the beets of the yellow beets usually taste much sweeter than those of the red ones. In addition, beets do not “bleed” during processing. The beets can be round, flat, or long, cylindrical. The skin is very thin, but the flesh is juicy and crisp.

The leaves of the yellow beets are oblong-egg-shaped and form a 15 to 30 cm long leaf blade. They are arranged in a rosette and grow directly out of the beet. The lush green is similar to the beetroot, but the leaves of the yellow beets have yellow veins. The edges tend to be puckered with age. Yellow beets are a biennial, herbaceous plant that forms the turnip and leaf rosette in the first year and an inflorescence that is around 1.5 meters high in the second year. The five-fold flowers are hermaphroditic and are pollinated by the wind.

Since the beet is formed directly at the root neck by the shoot and the plant root, it grows for the most part outside the soil. A deep taproot is formed to supply water and nutrients, there are hardly any side roots.

You May Also Like Turnip Companion Planting

Yellow beets varieties

The most popular types of yellow beets include:

• ‘Burpees Golden’: Intense orange skin, light yellow pulp; very productive and fast-growing; good to use raw or in a smoothie, but also for cooking, baking, or frying; fruity-mild taste, quite sweet.
• ‘Boldor F1’: Orange skin, golden-yellow pulp; profitable; large beets contain a lot of sugar, which makes them particularly suitable for baking, young leaves are ideal for adding to salads; particularly sweet taste.
• ‘Golden Eye’: light orange skin, golden-yellow pulp; Turnips become very evenly round; good for fresh consumption or for canning; mild-sweet, earthy taste.

Growing yellow beets

The yellow beets are a fairly undemanding plant. The location should be deep as it forms tap roots. Only heavy soils prove to be unsuitable for the cultivation of yellow beetroot, as the development of the beets is restricted. Full sun is an advantage for good development, but partially shaded places are also accepted. A constant, good water supply is important during vegetation. Boron or manganese deficiencies can occur in locations with a pH that is too high. A boron deficiency can be recognized by crippled, heart-shaped leaves, while a manganese deficiency manifests itself through poor growth and necrosis. However, you can prevent such deficiency symptoms by not liming directly before growing yellow beetroot.

The yellow beets are ideal for growing mixed crops. The other plants should not grow too high, however, so as not to rob the low-growing yellow beets from the light. Chives ( Allium schoenoprasum ), kohlrabi ( Brassica oleracea var . Gongylodes ), or radishes ( Raphanus sativus var . Sativus ) are, for example, very suitable. For crop rotation in the garden, it is important that no other goosefoot or foxtail plants have been grown on the area beforehand, as this can lead to the transmission of diseases. The goosefoot or foxtail plants include other beet varieties, spinach ( Spinacia oleracea ), or sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris var. Altissima ).

Since at temperatures below 7 ° C there may be more shoots, i.e. the plant breaks off the growth of the beet at an early stage and begins to bloom, the yellow beet should only be sown from mid-April to around mid-July. The germination of the yellow beet seeds only begins at around 7 to 9 ° C. Fleece is good protection against individual night frosts. Harvesting is possible three to four months after sowing, depending on the variety.

The sowing takes place directly in the bed. For this purpose, the seeds are sown with a distance of 15 to 25 cm between the individual plants and with a distance of 10 cm between the rows and then covered with soil about one to two finger widths. If you want to harvest earlier, you can pre-germinate the yellow beetroot seeds from March and bring the young plants into the bed from mid-April.

A low-nutrient potting soil is suitable for the preculture, as this promotes the growth of a healthy and dense root system. All the nutrients that are important for the young plant are contained in just the right amount and ensure optimal development. The young plants can be planted in May with a slightly larger plant spacing, with about 20 to 30 cm between the plants and 10 cm between the rows.

The vegetable growing kit contains four other colorful vegetables as well as seeds for the beet ‘Rainbow Mix’. You will also find all the materials you need for sowing in the set – so beet can be grown without any problems.

Care of yellow beets

If the seeds have germinated and are too close, they may have to be separated. This ensures that each beet has enough space to grow. During the growth, it is enough to water the yellow beets regularly. For even growth, the soil should be constantly moist, but waterlogging should be avoided. Fertilization of the yellow beets is possible in poor locations, but should only be done in moderation.

This should be noted with yellow beets with regard to nitrate:

• Leaf and beet vegetables such as yellow and beetroot, but also lettuce and spinach, accumulate nitrate, a form of nitrogen, in the leaves.
• Too high an intake of nitrate is suspected of being harmful to health. Therefore, vegetables should only be consumed in moderation.
• Young children are more at risk because their stomachs are not yet fully developed. You should therefore not eat too many yellow beets and other leafy and beet vegetables.
• Harvesting in the evening has the advantage that the nitrate content in the leaves is lower than in the morning.
• In order to curb the excessive nitrogen uptake, mineral nitrogen fertilization should be avoided. A primarily organic fertilizer, which covers the high potassium requirements of yellow beets, is better.

Harvest and storage

Yellow beets can be harvested early from the end of July until winter if they are sown early. A digging fork or a small shovel is suitable for this, in order to slightly loosen the earth around the beets. Then they can simply be pulled out and excess soil easily knocked off. A reminder of the soil should remain on the beet because this increases the shelf life. The root can simply be twisted off about three centimeters below the beet. The leaves remain on the beets.

The yellow beets can then be eaten fresh or stored. Storage is possible in-ground rent or in a sand-filled box in the garden or cellar. Temperatures of 0 to 1 ° C are most suitable because then storage is possible throughout the winter. There is also the option of simply leaving the beet stuck in the ground until you are ready to use it. Alternatively, it can also be boiled down and thus preserved for a longer period of time.

Yellow beet taste and ingredients

The taste of yellow beets is intense and aromatic. It is very similar to that of beetroot, but a little sweeter. The yellow color is caused by the carotene pigment.
Yellow beet contains a lot of iron, potassium, and also vitamin B and has a high folic acid content. These ingredients make yellow beet healthy and support the liver and gall bladder. It is also said to have anti-inflammatory and mood-enhancing effects.

Prepare yellow beets: raw and cooked

There are countless recipes for yellow beet – they can be prepared in the same way as beetroot. You can eat them raw or cooked and use the leaves to make a delicious yellow beet salad. It is important that not all leaves of a plant are picked. Otherwise, the plant has to put a lot of energy into new leaves instead of letting the beets grow.

The beet tastes particularly delicious raw as a carpaccio, but you can also deep-fry it into chips, stew, fry, or cook it. You can also drink the yellow beet, either as a juice or in a smoothie. The beet soup is a classic for a reason, but the yellow beet is just as suitable for this.