5 Great Tips for How to Grow Sugar Beets in Your Home Garden

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If you are wondering how to grow sugar beets and want to give them a try in your home garden this year, then look no further! I’ve got you. Sugar beets are a fun and unique vegetable to try growing.

Sugar beets are most commonly grown commercially for sugar production or as food plots for deer and livestock.

They do not get nearly as much attention from home gardeners as their smaller red counterparts (table beets), but they can still prove to be a useful commodity on your homestead or in your home garden.

What Is a Sugar Beet?

Sugar beets are a type of vegetable that looks like a big, round, white, or light tan bulb with a leafy green top. They are from the same family as their red cousins, but they have a different texture and flavor.

What makes sugar beets special is that they contain a lot of sugar in the form of sucrose. Sugar beets contain so much sucrose, they are actually a main source of sugar throughout the world.

When sugar beets are harvested, the leaves and roots are removed, and the bulb is processed to extract the sugar. This involves slicing the beets into small pieces and then extracting the juice from them. The juice is then purified and processed to create sugar crystals.

Sugar beets are an important crop throughout the world because they provide a source of sugar that’s less expensive than sugar cane. They can also be grown in colder climates than sugar cane, which makes them a good choice for farmers in places like Europe and the northern United States.

How About Some History?

The history of sugar beets goes back to the end of the 18th century when German chemist Andreas Marggraf found that sugar could be extracted from beets. It wasn’t until the early 19th century, however, that the commercial production of sugar beets really took off.

A key figure in the history of sugar beets is Frenchman Benjamin Delessert, who is considered to be the father of the sugar beet industry. Delessert built the first sugar beet factory in France in 1811 and developed new techniques for extracting sugar from beets.

Europe quickly learned how to grow sugar beets, and by the mid-19th century, their production had surpassed cane sugar production in many parts of the continent. In the United States, sugar beets were first introduced in the mid-1800s, but it wasn’t until the late 19th century that large-scale commercial production began.

Not far from where I live in the SE plains of Colorado, you still find remnants of the sugar beet era. Up in the Arkansas River Valley, old sugar beet factory buildings are still being used today, though repurposed for other businesses. It was reported that sugar beets grown in the Arkansas Valley had a higher sugar content than any grown in the world!

Now, you can find sugar beets grown in many places throughout the world. The largest producers of sugar beets today are Russia, France, the United States, Germany, and Ukraine.

Why Grow Sugar Beets on Your Homestead?

There are a few reasons you might want to try growing sugar beets on your homestead.

First, fodder! Livestock (cattle, goats, pigs, etc) love eating sugar beets and they make a great forage crop for them. Planting a small plot for treats or a large plot for grazing might be a good way to supplement their feed ration.

Second, make your own sweetener! You can process the sugar beets you grow into sugar for your family. The leftovers make great feed for your livestock as well.

Third, grow them for food. I know it may not be a traditional staple on your table, but sugar beets can be used for food. The roots can be cooked like most other root crops, and they can be mashed like potatoes as well. The leaves can be finely shredded and added to salads or coleslaw.

Fourth, know what’s in your food. If you are concerned about what chemicals and other substances might be in your food, then growing and producing your own sugar can ease those concerns

Fifth, they are fun! I love trying to grow new vegetables in my garden. I think I like the challenge and getting to learn about new things, lol.

Where to Buy Sugar Beet Seeds?

Sugar beet seeds are available from many suppliers across the U.S. However, my absolute favorite seed supplier has a couple you can choose from! True Leaf Market carries two heirloom varieties, the Detroit White as well as a more traditional larger sugar beet.

Either option is a great one! If you want to try out True Leaf Market, you can use my link and get $5 off your order!

When Should You Plant Your Sugar Beet Seed?

When you are deciding the best time to plant your sugar beet seed for your location, you first need to know a little about your specific growing climate. You need to know your average first and last frost dates for the year, as well as have a general idea of the temperatures in your garden during the growing season.

Sugar beets prefer a growing temperature of 60-80 °F during the day and cool nights. For many locations, the summer months will be far too hot for your sugar beets to be happy.

While they do prefer full sun, if you live in a climate with very warm days, they will appreciate some shade when the temps soar in the afternoons.

Sugar beets are “half-hardy” which means they can take a light freeze or frost to 29 °F. If it’s going to be any colder than that, I would cover your plants or just harvest them.

Sugar beets can be planted in the early spring and/or the fall. If your summers are very hot, growing a fall crop may be the best option for you.

How to Grow Sugar Beets

Ok, I promised you 5 tips for how to grow sugar beets. Now that we have all the other stuff out of the way, let’s dive in!

Tip #1: Prepare a GooD Seed Bed

Like all good projects, preparing a solid foundation will get you off to your best start. Growing sugar beets is no different. All seeds need to be in good contact with the soil around them. Sugar beet seeds have an irregular shape which makes this more difficult, which is why preparing your seed bed is important.

You need to make sure the area you are planting in is free of rocks, roots, and weeds. Your ground needs to be soft at least 2 inches down, but deeper is even better. If you till to prepare your garden, then till deeply until the soil is nice and soft.

Personally, I use a deep mulch method of gardening, which is a no-till method. As long as my ground is mulched and watered, it will be soft enough for sugar beets to grow.

Sugar beets do well in a wide range of soil types, but will do best in coarse textured sandy soils. The area you plant in needs to also contain well-drained soil to keep your seeds from staying too wet.

Tip #2: Plant Your Sugar Beet Seed Correctly

Once you have a good seed bed prepared, you need to make sure you plant correctly. Sugar beet seeds should be planted around 1 inch deep. If you’re planting in early spring, you can go more shallow, around 1/2″.

Hoe a row or create a grid if you’re going for a more intensive spacing. As you place your seeds on the soil, lightly firm them to create good contact with the soil below. Space your seeds about every 2 inches, then cover them with soil. After covering, firm the soil again to ensure proper contact with your sugar beet seed.

Keep an eye on soil moisture through germination until the plants are established. Seeds need the right combination of water and air to germinate. If kept too wet they can’t get air and will rot. If they are too dry, they won’t have enough moisture for germination to occur.

Tip #3: Thin Your Seedlings

I know I know… no one likes to pinch or snip off perfectly good little seedlings. You’ve worked hard to get them to germinate and grow!

Here’s the thing though, if you don’t thin your seedlings, your beets will be far too close together. This can lead to many problems! Each sugar beet seed is actually a small seed pod that contains multiple seeds inside. So, each “seed” may germinate several plants.

Overcrowding decreases airflow, which increases your chance of disease. If your beets are too close together, they won’t get the water, nutrients, and space they need to thrive leading to a decreased production. Overcrowding can lead to stressed plants which are more susceptible to pest pressure as well.

Thin your seedlings out to 1 plant every 4-6 inches, and I think you’ll find you have much happier plants in the long run!

Tip #4: Care for Your New Seedlings

New sugar beet seedlings can not out-compete weeds for sunlight and water. In order for your new little plants to thrive, make sure you weed them well. When your plants are nice, big, and leafy, they will help shade out the weeds.

You can also (and I highly recommend doing so) use heavy mulch between your rows. Your mulch will help your soil retain moisture, provide weed control, and keep your ground cooler than it would be without the mulch.

When the top one inch of soil around your little sugar beet plants is dry, then water. I like to water my garden deeply overnight. That might not be the best option for you, but it seems to work well here for me.

Your beets may crack and not grow properly if they aren’t watered when needed.

Tip #5: Tend and Harvest

Once your plants are established and growing well, they require very little care. Continue watering as needed if rainfall is lacking in your area.

Watch your sugar beets for signs of pests or disease. They are susceptible to the same problems as “regular” beets such as flea beetles, leaf spot, aphids, cutworms, root rot, powdery mildew, and more. If you find evidence of pest pressure, treat accordingly to maximize harvest.

Fertilize your plants if needed. The best way to know if it is needed is by taking a soil sample and having it tested. Sugar beets can be heavy feeders and may appreciate a well-balanced fertilizer. Try to avoid excessive nitrogen, as that will lead to a lot of leafy green on the top, and not much root growth underneath.

Sugar beets take around 100 days until they are ready for harvest. Be sure and harvest before the roots get too big and lose flavor. Once ready, make sure you are prepared to work them up as they don’t keep very long in storage.

How do I save Sugar Beet Seeds?

If you want to save back seeds from the sugar beets you have grown, you will have to heavily mulch your plants and overwinter them. Sugar beets are biennial plants (like onions), which means they don’t flower and make seeds until their second year of life.

If you overwinter your beets, you should be able to collect and save their seeds the next year the same as you would any other vegetables. Don’t forget that they will cross-pollinate with any other beet varieties, so if you want sugar beet seeds specifically take precautions to avoid that.

Overwintering sugar beets is most successful in temperate climates that do not get frigid cold weather conditions through the winter.

How Will You Use Your Sugar Beets?

Now that you know how to grow sugar beets, I hope this has encouraged you to give them a try in your next garden! How do you think you’ll use your sugar beets?

I am hoping to grow enough to make my own sugar (if I’m ambitious), or at least a lovely sweet syrup I can use to sweeten teas or other beverages and foods.

I am also planning to feed the tops to my goats, as well as any beet pulp left after pressing the liquid out. I feed my goats dried beet pulp shreds sometimes, so this seems like a great way to be more self-sufficient.

Maybe someday I’ll even grow a whole grazing plot of sugar beets for the goats, who knows!