Beetroot Detroit – table variety of Italian selection

For fresh consumption, storage and processing, many gardeners grow Detroit beets. Approximately 100 days after the emergence of seedlings from the garden, you can collect rounded medium-sized root crops that will please you with a beautiful maroon color and excellent taste.

Beetroot Detroit

Beetroot Detroit - table variety of Italian selection

Beetroot Detroit has juicy pulp

Beetroot Detroit - table variety of Italian selection

Beetroot Detroit dark color without white streaks

Variety description

Beet Detroit is the pride of the Italian selection, which was registered in 1994, and after 3 years it entered the State Register of Plants of the Russian Federation for cultivation in the Central and Far Eastern regions. With success, the variety is also grown in Moldova and Ukraine. Its characteristics can be found in the table below:

Parameter

Description

Ripening time The variety is mid-season – the period from germination to technical maturity is 85-105 days. Cultivation regions The crop is suitable for cultivation in open ground in regions with a temperate and warm climate. It has a powerful leaf apparatus and a strong root system, so it tolerates drought.
It can also be cultivated in cool and temperate climatic zones under film cover, as it adapts well to climatic changes, tolerates slight frosts and sprouts even with winter sowing. Plant The leaf rosette of medium height is semi-erect and consists of small oval leaves that “sit” on long cuttings.
The leaf plate has a bright green color and is diluted with anthocyanin-colored red-violet veins. Its surface is slightly bubbly, and wavy along the edges. The petiole, painted in a red-purple hue, also attracts attention. Root crops The culture bears fruit with root crops with the following parameters:

  • form – rounded and slightly elongated towards the tail, aligned, without flaws;
  • weight – from 150 to 200 g;
  • axial root – thin, short and red;
  • skin – smooth, thin, dark red;
  • flesh – dense, tender and juicy, intense maroon color, without white veins and rings, with a content of 17-20% dry matter and 12-14% sugars (per 100 g).

Usage Table beets can be consumed fresh, used in cooking, including for preparing decoctions and juices. It can also be grown for the sale of beam products. Productivity From 1 square. m beds will be able to get up to 9 kg of fruit, and from 1 hectare – 362-692 centners. Product yield at a good level – 82-91%. Keeping quality Root crops can be stored until the next season without loss of taste and commercial qualities.

The characteristics of Detroit beets are described in the video below:

The official breeder of the Detroit variety is TM Clause (France). Seeds can be ordered on the official website of the company or bought in company garden stores.

Beet varieties Detroit

Given the excellent characteristics and popularity of the culture, breeders used it as the basis for creating the following beet subspecies:

  • Detroit Dark Red (darkred). An early ripe variety that bears fruit with root crops weighing from 80 to 250 g. They have a characteristic rounded shape and dark red flesh with a high content of sugars, without veins.
    Detroit Dark Red (dark red)
  • Detroit 6 Rubidus. Another early maturing variety that is resistant to frost and minimal natural light, so it can be cultivated even in shaded areas. It is great for early sale, so it is popular with gardeners. It bears fruit with rounded-lined fruits with a thin axial rod.
    Detroit 6 Rubidus
  • Detroit 2 Black. Medium-late high-yielding variety that bears fruit with roots with burgundy flesh, not prone to accumulating nitrates. Excellent for long term storage.
    Detroit 2 Black

In the garden, you can simultaneously sow all variations of Detroit beets in order to choose the next season the variety that will bring the greatest yield, show resistance to diseases and pests.

Landing methods and dates

Detroit beets can be cultivated in two ways:

  • Through direct sowing of seeds in the ground. A popular technique that allows you to grow a crop in two seasons, since the seeds can be sown both in the spring and before winter. In the first case, the optimal sowing time is from the end of April to the beginning of May (after the earth warms up to + 10 … + 13 ° C), and in the second – in early November.
  • seedlings. Allows you to save seed and get an earlier harvest, as root crops ripen 2-3 weeks faster than with direct sowing of seeds in the ground. However, this technology also has disadvantages – it increases the sensitivity of seedlings to temperature fluctuations and lowers their resistance to diseases. Seeds should be sown for seedlings in early April. After about a month, the sprouts can be transplanted into the garden.

Site selection and preparation

To get a rich harvest of root crops, you need to cultivate beets in a properly selected and well-prepared area. When choosing a landing site, you need to consider the following requirements:

  • the site should be sunny and protected from drafts, as the plant does not tolerate shading well and is demanding on the intensity of lighting;
  • the place should have good humidity, since Detroit beets are moisture-loving vegetables;
  • it is desirable that cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes or onions grow on the site last season (all types of cabbage and carrots are unacceptable predecessors);
  • the soil in the garden should be loose, fertile and with mild or neutral acidity.

Best of all, the culture bears fruit in medium loamy and sandy loamy soils with a sufficient amount of organic matter.

A place with suitable parameters must be prepared for beets in advance – in the fall, dig a shovel onto a bayonet, remove plant debris and apply organic fertilizers (humus, rotted manure). If the soil has high acidity, it is necessary to add ash, dolomite flour or lime to it.

Seed preparation

Beet seeds germinate slowly, so they must be processed before sowing in open ground or for seedlings. Here are effective ways:

  • Soak the planting material for a day in warm water. During this procedure, change the water 2-3 times, and then dry and sow in the ground. If the seeds stick together during soaking, they must not be separated, so as not to cause irreparable harm to them.
  • Fold a piece of cloth in 2 layers and soak in water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate, and then put it on a saucer. Place 50-100 seeds on it and cover with the same damp cloth. Remove the saucer in a warm (+18…+25°C) place for 4 days. During this time, you need to regularly moisten the fabric so that it does not dry out. It is also impossible to fill it with water, so as not to cause rot of the planting material.
  • For vernalization, place the seeds in a 3-4 cm layer in an enameled pan and pour 50 liters of water. After 32 hours, add the same amount of water. Keep the pot at a temperature of +15…20°C for 2-3 days, previously covered with a damp cloth. Next, pour the seeds into a box with a layer of up to 3 cm and put them away for 10 days in a cool room.

Prepared seeds will be able to germinate better, show resistance to many diseases and give an earlier harvest.

Planting beets

Before sowing, the bed should be watered abundantly at the rate of 10 buckets of water per 20 m. If sowing is done on a flat surface, it is better to prepare two-line tapes.

Seed sowing

The scheme for sowing seeds is as follows:

  • distance between seeds in a row – 15 cm;
  • row spacing – 35-30 cm;
  • planting depth in ordinary soils – 3 cm, and in peat – 5 cm;
  • seeding rate – 1-1,5 g per 1 sq. m.

After sowing, the seeds should be sprinkled with earth, the bed should be mulched, and in cool regions, covered with foil. Under optimal conditions (air temperature + 4-5 ° C), the first shoots will appear in a week.

When sowing, beet seeds can be mixed with spinach seeds. This will help prevent the active development of dangerous weeds for Detroit. When its first shoots appear, spinach must be removed or left for another month, and then harvested.

If beets are grown through seedlings, then the seedlings need to be transplanted to a permanent place when the soil warms up to + 15 … + 20 ° С. Between the furrows it is worth keeping 10-12 cm, and between the rows – 45 cm.

landing care

The Detroit variety is not whimsical in care, but it requires the timely implementation of a number of agrotechnical measures, which is especially important in the case of growing beets through seedlings. Proper care involves the following manipulations:

  • Watering. Until the formation of root crops, intensively water the bed, and then reduce the frequency of moistening to 1 time per week at the rate of 15 liters of water per 1 sq. m. It is desirable to water the site early in the morning or in the evening. The ground should not be either excessively dry or excessively wet. Stop watering completely a month before the expected harvest.
  • Loosening and weeding. A wet bed must be loosened to improve gas exchange and air permeability of the soil. The formation of earthen “lumps” should not be allowed, since they do not allow nutrients to penetrate into the soil and slow down the growth of bushes. It is equally important to constantly “clean” the site, as weeds drown out young plantings, reducing the quality of the crop.
  • Mulching. To retain moisture in the soil and suppress the germination of weeds, the bed should be mulched. It has been noticed that root crops grow larger in a mulched area.
  • Thinning. The procedure should be carried out 2 times a season and only in cloudy weather. It is worth thinning out beets according to this scheme:
    • in the phase of the appearance of 2-3 true leaves – remove the grass and weak shoots, leaving 3-4 cm between the bushes;
    • in the phase of formation of 4-5 leaves – expand the gaps between plants to 7-8 cm.
  • Additional fertilizing. Fertilizers must be applied several times during the season, but their overabundance should not be allowed, as this will provoke cracking of root crops and the formation of voids in them. Here is the optimal feeding scheme:
    • in the phase of 2-3 leaves (after thinning) – apply organic fertilizers to saturate the soil with nitrogen;
    • at the weeding stage – apply potash fertilizers to the ground (16-20 g per 1 sq. M).

    The feeding scheme can be adjusted depending on the appearance of the plants: if the tops are brightening, add potassium, and if the veins on it turn red – sodium.

  • Protection against diseases and pests. For Detroit beets, rot (white, gray) and downy mildew can be dangerous. Among the pests, the Medvedka and the Winter Scoop are dangerous. To prevent their damage, you need to feed the plants with potash fertilizers and regularly weed the site.

Harvesting and storage of crops

When spring sowing, you can harvest root crops in the last decade of September. By this time, they will fully ripen and will be of the highest quality. In order not to miscalculate with the harvest time, you should pay attention to the condition of the stems – in ripened root crops, they dry out and turn yellow.

It is best to collect beets in dry, warm weather in the absence of dew. This will allow you to dry the root crops for some time in the sun, which will favorably affect their keeping quality.

Beets are unpretentious to storage conditions. The main thing is to keep it in a cool place without excess moisture. The optimum room temperature is +2-3°C. Many gardeners store beets in the cellar along with potato tubers or in plastic bags with a capacity of 15-20 kg. Bags need to be tied, but slightly opened for a while when condensation forms, so that it evaporates through a small hole.

How the Detroit beet is harvested can be seen in the following video:

Pros and cons of the variety

The value of Detroit beets lies in the following characteristics:

  • evenly germinates and gives a consistently high yield;
  • bears fruit with equal in shape and size root crops with excellent commercial qualities and universal purpose;
  • shows resistance to diseases and tsvetushnost;
  • endures short-term freezing of the soil;
  • has a powerful vegetative mass and root system, therefore it is not afraid of heat and unfavorable growing conditions;
  • is subject to long-term storage fresh without loss of taste and useful properties, and also endures transportation over long distances.

Unlike many other varieties, the Detroit beet does not give arrows when hot weather sets in.

No deficiencies have been found in this culture.

Beetroot Reviews Detroit

Timofey Dmitrievich, 42 years old. I grow the variety on light, organic-rich soil with a weak reaction. As a rule, I sow in early June to get root crops suitable for winter storage. I advise you to pay special attention to thinning in caring for the culture, otherwise the heads will turn out to be too small. I appreciate the variety for excellent taste. Julia Weber, 34 years old. For me, the main thing in beetroot is its sweetness, and not its gigantic size, which is why I choose the Detroit variety. Brings exactly those root crops, as I want. The yield is good, but it does not take too much effort to care for the planting. Irina Alexandrovna, 57 years old. I grow Detroit beets regularly. Always pleases with excellent germination. The main thing is to water the plantings on time and feed them several times. I cook real Ukrainian borscht and vinaigrette from maroon beets.

On garden plots, home gardens and small farms, you can cultivate the Detroit variety that is resistant to low temperatures. In the warm season, it will be possible to harvest dark red root crops for table purposes twice. They can be used in cooking or laid down for winter storage.

Anna Evans

Author-editor

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