I planted mangel beets for the first time this year. I have planted twice and can't get them to germinate. What am I doing wrong? Ronya Hammonds

-- Ronya Hammonds (surenuffbusted@juno.com), May 27, 2001

Answers

Are they fresh seeds, as in bought this year and stored right? How deep did you plant them and how long have you waited? What's your weather been like. I planted some nearly two weeks ago and they are just starting to germinate. The stand loos spotty, so I must have burried some too deep. I had planted some a month ago and they came up sooner. It was warmer then than this last 10 days or so has been. Too bad the dog dug them up.

If you have any seed left, put 10 or 20 seeds on a paper towel and dampen it down and cover with another paper towel. Sittint the whole thing on a damp newspaper might help. Keep the seeds warm and damp, but not soggy, and see how many germinate. That will tell you if it's bad seed or something else.

==>paul

-- paul (p@ledgewood-consulting.com), May 27, 2001.

Is your soil loose and with the right ph. Try adding organic matter to it. Plant them 2-4 weeks before the last frost or 4-6 weeks before the first frost. Let me know if that helped.

-- Michael J. Huck (sallysalamander@Bisons.com), May 27, 2001.

Just read (I THINK in Organic Gardening) about a hint to help germination of beets; said to spread seed on paper & run a rolling pin over the seeds to help break up the hard coating, then plant. Perhaps it would help - I didn't get a chance to try it yet.

-- Bonnie (chilton@stateline-isp.com), May 30, 2001.

You can try two things. First, roll them lightly with a rolling pin to crack the outer seed coat. Second, soak for a couple hours in luke warm water. I'd try rolling, and then soak a few minutes....

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), May 30, 2001.