The Secret They Keep Silent About: What to Water at the Root to Make Beets Mega-Sweet
Growing beets but they taste like grass instead of sugar?
It's all about the lack of two elements: boron and sodium. The first is responsible for transporting sugars from the leaves to the root crop, the second - for their accumulation.
3 weeks before harvesting, dissolve 10 g of boric acid and 50 g of table salt (without iodine!) in 10 liters of warm water.
Water the bed at a rate of 0.5 liters for each root crop.
Salt will "shock" the plant, causing it to accumulate sugars to protect the cells, and boron will contribute to the movement of sugars.
But start preparing earlier. When sowing, put a mixture of 20 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium sulfate per 1 m² into the furrows.
Phosphorus stimulates root development, and potassium regulates water balance.
When the root crop reaches the size of a walnut, apply foliar feeding: 5 g of manganese chelate and 3 g of zinc sulfate per 10 liters of water.
Manganese increases resistance to rot, zinc accelerates cell division.
The secret to mega-sweet beets is strict control of soil pH. If the level is above 6.5, add 200 g of colloidal sulfur per 1 m² a month before planting.
Water the plants only in the morning so that the soil has time to dry out by evening - excess moisture dilutes the sugars.
For storage, dig up the beets in dry weather, trim the tops, leaving 1 cm, and dip the roots in a clay slurry with the addition of 1% Bordeaux mixture. This will keep them sweet until spring.