When to Plant Beet Seeds:  Heirloom beets are an annual cool-season crop, half-hardy to frost and light freezes. This being said, beet seeds may be sown as soon as the ground can be worked although you may not get maximum germination from all your seeds.  Optimum soil temperature for beet seed germination is around 60 deg. F.  For succession beet crop, seed plantings can be made every 2 weeks to midsummer.  Heirloom beets become tough and stringy if grown in hot weather during droughts; ample water supply is essential to succulent roots.  A late summer crop of beet seeds can be sown for fall harvest.  Plant beets in full sun.

Soil:  Heirloom beets are native to Mediterranean climates, where  the soil is normally alkaline.  Therefore the best beets come from soil that has been well limed.  Heirloom beets prefer a soil with a pH around 6.5  Like most root crops a rich, sandy loam prepared with well-rotted manure and compost to a depth of 8 inches is perfect.  The soil should be well pulverized to remove rocks and clods so that roots form correctly and quickly.  All this being said beets grow well in just about any soil that insn't too acidic.  Remember to use bone meal to encourage luscious fat beet root development. 

Planting Beet Seeds:  Presoak heirloom beet seeds overnight before planting to help them get a good, quick start.  Sow seed 1/2 inch deep in rows 12-18 inches apart.  The beet seed is tight ball of several tiny seeds.  As many as three plants may germinate where each seed is sown, so seed should be placed sparingly.  When seedlings are 4-6 inches high, thin plants to stand 1 1/2 inches apart.  (Don't throw these thinnings out! Use them in a salad.)  As the heirloom beets grow to about the size of a marble, pull every other one to allow larger beets to grow.  It is very important to provide consistent moisture so beets do not become woody.  Unless of course you are a beaver!

Some of the best varieties of heirloom beet seeds:  Albina vereduna heirloom beet Seeds, Boltardy heirloom beet Seeds, Bull's Blood heirloom beet Seeds, Chiogga heirloom beet Seeds, Crosby's Egyptian heirloom beet Seeds, Cylindra heirloom beet Seeds, Crimson Globe heirloom beet Seeds, Detroit Dark Red heirloom beet Seeds, Early Wonder heirloom beet Seeds, Godlen Beet Seeds, Green Top Bunching heirloom beet Seeds, Lutz Green Leaf heirloom beet Seeds, Red Mangel heirloom beet Seeds, and Ruby Red heirloom beet Seeds.