Avalanche White F1 Beet Seeds

Days to Maturity: 50

All-America Selections (AAS) Winner 2015

An award-winning F1 hybrid, Avalanche White Beet, commonly called beetroot, is grown as a root vegetable. The round, 3-inch snow white roots weigh about 9 ounces. They have a mild, sweet flavor with none of the bitterness or "earthy" taste of red beets. White beets are excellent for eating raw in salads or for boiling, roasting, canning, or pickling. And they do not bleed when cooked. A dual-purpose crop, beets have delicious leafy greens, which are even more nutritious than the roots and are especially tasty sautéed.

This herbaceous biennial, typically grown as an annual, is a member of the amaranth (Amaranthaceae) family. Avalanche White F1 Beet grows quickly, forming an attractive basal rosette of clean, healthy foliage. The plants are suitable for containers.

Well-adapted to most climates, beets grow best in sunny locations with fertile, organically rich, light to sandy, moist, well-draining soil, but they tolerate light shade and salty soils. Avalanche White F1 Beet has very good tolerance to Cercospora leaf spot (CLS [Cercospora beticola]).

A cool-season, semi-hardy vegetable, one of the first to be planted in the garden, beet seed can be direct sown into the garden as soon as the soil is workable in early spring, before the last frost date. It needs cold temperatures to germinate and grow and can withstand temperatures in the 28° to 32°F range. Beets not only tolerate light frost but also become even sweeter. Succession plantings every 2 to 3 weeks is recommended for continual harvest. Fall crops should be sown from midsummer through early fall, starting about 4 to 6 weeks before the first fall frost.

Soak seeds for 24 hours before planting.