Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey every so often I get a beetroot keel over (at various sizes) and when I pull it up the base is rotting or has some fungus. Anyone know why this might be? Seems random. They really stink and its guess that's just the smell of rotting flesh... anyone else had this? All other plants are fine..

Humm... never had a beetroot rot before... curious...

Are your beds flooding too high?

I wonder what the grow media looks like.I dont ever see that in my soil grown beet crops so i wonder if the media is too fine and stays too wet? Is it constant flood?

Pretty yummy looking at any rate.

I've had it happen too, quite randomly in both soil and AP. and it's just the odd plant dying while it's neighbours are doing fine

Yeah is on 30 mins flood 30 mins drain. All other beets are cranking..then..out of nowhere 1 will keel over and die. Had one last week which had been dead for a while and when I pulled it up, cut on half it smelt as though it were charcoal! Really really strong odour. I thinking it might be a fungus perhaps? Seems to have a grey slimy surface where its rotting.that could just be the effect of rotting though..ill keep an eye on things and see if I spot any others. My beets are my favourite and I hope it not a long term problem!

Beds might be flooding too high perhaps keeping the beets too wet. Ill investigate further

Had had the same problem here, we have had several weeks of rain lately and very little sunshine lately, 80% of beetroot have died, the leaves flopped to the ground (gravel in GB) and then the actual beetroot starts to rot. prior to this I have had great results with beetroot and found it ideal for AP growing.

My grow beds are constant flood and have never had a problem with rotting Beetrrot. The bed is actually partially blocked at the moment with water on the surface and they still don't rot.

I havnt grown a decent beetroot in my AP yet

I pulled this one from a constantly flooded grow bed this evening...

How do you know when to harvest beetroot. Ive got some in my wicking bed but not sure how long to leave them.

Beetroot grows flat out in my AP, think there's some 30 plants in there at the moment. Pretty sure you can pick it at any stage, we let ours go a little. We peel and grate ours a bit and use in coleslaw's.

Yeah we have heaps growing and pick at various sizes. They grow well from seeds thrown directly into the bed too!

Just had a whole white heirloom beetroot juiced with some watermelon and threw up a few minutes later. Just read beet juice is actually quite powerful and should only be taken in small doses. Anyone else had similar experience?