How to Plant, Grow, and Care For ‘Chioggia’ Beets

Beets are so tasty and picked fresh from the garden—they take on a different flavor profile than those from the store. Both the flavorful roots and leafy greens are edible and rich in vitamins A, C, iron, potassium, and folic acid with antioxidant benefits.

The cold-tolerant, frost-hardy root vegetables grow best in the cool weather of spring and fall. ‘Chioggia’ beets are an early-maturing heirloom variety with concentric rings of bright red and white. With a mild, sweet, peppery flavor, they spice up the salad or dish with colorful and flavorful flair. Their easy-to-grow qualities make them worth incorporating into this spring’s edible landscape.

What Are ‘Chioggia’ Beets?

This 1800s Italian heirloom bears the name of an island fishing village in Northern Italy near Venice. Its striking interior has white and pinkish-red swirls, like a peppermint surprise. A candy-striped variety, ‘Chioggia’s’ interior flesh has concentric rings of red and white. 

‘Chioggia’ beets grow well in containers, vertical planters, raised beds, and the ground. Enjoy their sweet, earthy flavor fresh in salads and for snacking or roasted, steamed, baked, canned, or pickled. Cook them into stews and soups to warm up chilly nights.

Companion plants to grow with the cool-season crops include broccoli, cabbage, kale, garlic, sage, and spinach. By the nature of their growth habit, beets break up and loosen the surrounding soil. This aeration is an added benefit for future plantings.

Beets have a dense nutrition profile and are a good source of beta-carotene, fiber, and folic acid, among their many vitamins. Both the leaves and roots are edible, making the whole plant useful. 

Characteristics

‘Chioggia’s’ rings of red and white vary in the amount of each color per beet. Some are more red or more white, or every combination in between. The slightly flattened, one to three-inch roots have pink, orange, and red-hued skins. The flesh is relatively free of bleeding and staining, holding its color and preserving the cutting board and chef’s apron.

‘Chioggia’ is an early producer that matures in 55 days, with harvesting as soon as the rounds reach one inch in diameter. The heirloom has medium-tall green leaves with red blushes. Roasted or steamed, it adds a playful mix among other root vegetables. 

Beets are biennials grown as annuals for the tasty roots and leaves. Beet seeds are dried fruits that each hold one to five seeds. Thin seedlings as they pop up to prevent overcrowding, and use the sprouts as a tasty salad addition.

Native Area

These hearty vegetables are native to the Mediterranean, Europe, and Asia. Many trace to the Mediterranean basin as a wild shore grower cultivated for their leaves and medicinal qualities.

‘Chioggia’ hails from the namesake of its origin, an Italian island village near the Lagoon of Venice. The Mediterranean climate experiences cool, wet winters and warm, arid summers.

Planting

Spring is the best time for planting, with seed-sowing about four weeks before the final frost or as soils are workable. The ideal soil temperature is at least 45°F (7°C), and ideally 60-85°F (16-29°C). You can also do a round in mid-summer for a fall harvest, aiming for six to eight weeks before fall’s first frost. In cool climates, successional sowing every three weeks from spring through fall yields a continual supply.

Direct sow beet seeds to avoid transplant disturbance (though these do better than some root vegetables with starting indoors or winter sowing). Space plants four inches apart and, If growing in rows, space rows at least one foot apart.

How to Grow

‘Chioggia’ are beautiful specimens among beets and are also easy to grow. They’re quick to develop for an earlier harvest than some others. With the appropriate site preparation, sunlight, and moisture, they need little else to thrive in the ground, raised beds, or containers.

Light

These root vegetables develop the best flavor and growth in six or more hours of sunlight daily. They also tolerate partial shade (four or more hours daily), making them versatile in garden spaces. Save full sun exposure for the many crops that require it.

Water

As the roots develop, they need consistent moisture. With a lack of water, the normally juicy globes may become dry, stringy, and tough.

Depending on your climate, regular seasonal rainfall is usually enough for ‘Chioggia’ beets. Aim for evenly moist soils and supplement with irrigation during dry spells and warm temperatures. Regular moisture keeps the soil surface from becoming a hard crust, causing seedlings to dry up.

Soil

‘Chioggia’ beets are reliable producers that develop best in organically rich, well-drained soils. Loose and airy loams are ideal, and a pH between 6.5 and 7.0 is optimal.

Add a generous layer of compost before or at planting, especially in poor soils like clay and sand. Compost improves aeration, moisture retention, drainage, and nutrition. 

The rounds may not fully develop in dense, poorly drained soils or may become malformed in drought situations. They struggle in heavy compositions. Remove any stones, sticks, or clumps at planting that may impede even development.

Temperature and Humidity

Beets are a cool-season, frost-tolerant crop that withstand temperatures down to about 20°F (-7°C). They thrive in cool spring conditions and last well into fall, with successional rounds in cool climates.

The best flavor comes with cool weather; fluctuating heat and cold may result in less quality. Although ‘Chioggia’ is fine with some warmth, in hot conditions, beets may be lighter in color, contain fewer sugars for flavor, and show whiter zones in the roots.

Fertilizing

Beets don’t usually require additional fertilizing in organically rich soils, and they tolerate low fertility. If you want to give them a boost, fish emulsion, kelp, or alfalfa meal are good options. 

They benefit from phosphorous and potassium-rich soils (the “P” and the “K” in the NPK ratio), and a low-grade organic granular application does the trick. Too much nitrogen, though, directs energy to leafy upper growth rather than root development.

Maintenance

As roots develop, keep their shoulders covered with soil as they show through the soil surface. Covering keeps them from changing color or getting corky with exposure.

Beets don’t do well with weed competition. Weed as part of regular maintenance to protect plants from competing for nutrients, water, and sunlight. Weeding also keeps some pests at bay.

At planting, a light layer of weed-free straw or chopped leaves provides insulation against temperature fluctuations and keeps seeds from drifting or being crushed. Mulch also helps with moisture retention and weed suppression and adds nutrients as it decomposes.

Harvesting and Storage

Harvest the early beets regularly, taking care not to damage the shallow roots at digging.

Use a fork or shovel to carefully loosen the globes and lift or pull them.

‘Chioggia’ matures in about 50-60 days but is ready as soon as the small globes reach one inch in diameter. They’re most tender when small, as are their leafy tops. Begin harvesting young leaves when they reach two inches tall and up to eight inches. Enjoy as much as one-third of the leaves during the growing season while the roots develop beneath.

At harvesting, clip the leaves to one inch above the root or twist them off to prevent bleeding and loss of flavor. Removing the greens preserves the flavor – they’ll quickly draw moisture from the root if kept intact. Store the fresh greens in the refrigerator for up to a week and the roots for one to three weeks.

Beets are good contenders for pickling, canning, freezing, and drying. Store them long-term in a cool space like a root cellar for a few months at 32-35°F (0-2°C) with high humidity (95%).

If you have extra seeds, they make a good cover crop in the “off” season if you have bare beds. Cover crops improve soils and work with microorganisms to protect and enrich beds between primary crop-growing phases. Cover crops also suppress weeds, reduce erosion, improve nutrients, and reduce compaction.

Propagation

‘Chioggia’ beets grow quickly and easily from seed. In late winter and early spring, sow seeds two to four weeks before the final frost. Direct sowing is best and avoids root disturbance. Or, start them indoors for transplanting. While many root vegetables are sensitive to transplanting, beets can begin with indoor seed-starting.

Growing From Seed

In a prepped bed or cell tray, plant the seeds ¼ inch deep with one-inch spacing. Keep the media moist until germination. Ideal temperatures for germination are between 50-85°F (10-29°C), with some germination at 40°F (4°C) and as high as 90°F (32°C). Sprouts emerge in five to eight days, though they may take longer in cold soils at 20 days or more.

Each seed may produce a cluster of seedlings; thin to maintain the correct spacing. Thinning helps reduce competition for root space, nutrients, light, and water and also improves airflow to prevent damping off. Thin when seedlings reach a few inches tall to maintain two inches apart. Clip or pinch the base of the stem rather than pulling, which disrupts roots. Enjoy the sprouts or leaves as a fresh salad or sandwich topper.

Common Problems

Fortunately, the vegetables are relatively free of pests and diseases. Leaminers may be an issue, and nematodes may present issues beneath the soil. Fungal problems like root rot and leaf spot may pop up due to cultural imbalances.

Leaf Miners

Leaf miners are fly larvae that burrow and tunnel into foliage. Larvae are yellow, cylindrical, and seedlike. Adult leaf miners are small black flies, often with a yellow triangle at the base of their wings.

Leaf miner larvae feed beneath the leaf surface, leaving visible pathways and punctures that deform foliage or cause yellowing and blotchiness. Adult leaf miners pierce leaves to access sap and lay eggs, causing a speckled appearance on surfaces.

Fortunately, leaf miners rarely do severe damage. In heavy infestations, they’ll slow growth and cause leaf drop, and their mining may create openings for fungal infection.

Handpick any impacted leaves and destroy them. Control weeds, which attract and harbor pests, and compete with the vegetables. Horticultural oils like neem can be effective controls, as can BT and spinosad sprays. If you have a history of leafminers, a floating row cover is useful in limiting damage from adult flies. Cover seedlings as they emerge to prevent early infestation.

Nematodes

Nematodes (especially beet cyst and root knot) may crop up as soil-dwelling pests. They cause stunted and deformed roots and yellowing, wilted foliage. Knotty roots and misshapen, stunted yields are signs of damage from nematodes. The microscopic roundworms are difficult to see with the naked eye, but beets with cankers and a knotted appearance are evidence. Upper growth may show stunting, pale leaves, wilting, and leaf drop.

It’s challenging to treat a nematode infestation. Adding beneficial nematodes to the area prior to the growing season can help, as they prey on other species. Mycorrihizal fungi, too, show some success at suppression. The best action is to remove and discard infected material and surrounding surface soil. Keep these materials away from plantings and the compost pile to reduce harboring the nematodes.

Crop rotation is the best measure against invaders like miners and nematodes. If these pests are an issue in your area, avoid planting beets where you’ve grown them or spinach and Swiss chard in the last few years. Crop rotation is a preventative step.

Diseases

As with pests, the best disease control is prevention through cultural conditions. Common fungal diseases may be an issue with water fluctuations, temperature stresses, or humid conditions.

Root Rot

Root rot occurs in overly wet soils and periods of prolonged saturation and humidity. Bacteria cause the roots and foliage to become mushy. While there’s no reversing rot once it sets in, improving drainage and cultural conditions can help other specimens. Remove any impacted plants from the bed or planter.

With root rot, the pathogen Phytophthora, among others, impacts feeder roots, which are unable to absorb water and nutrients. Signs of root rot include drought-stressed leaves that turn yellow and wilt. 

Check for rot by inspecting stems and roots slightly below the soil line. Rotting roots will be yellow or brown rather than healthy pinky-red.

Cercospora Leaf Spot

Cercospora leaf spot is a fungal infection that grows on leaf surfaces. Brown spots with lighter centers increase in size and number and spread across leaves and stems, causing them to blacken. 

The brown-black spots crop up when leaves stay wet from prolonged moisture from rain or overhead watering.

Pluck diseased leaves and remove any dropped ones. Prune surrounding plants where appropriate to increase air circulation. Horticultural oils like neem can treat early fungal infections if removing leaves doesn’t work. Follow application requirements and time-of-day recommendations to minimize the effect on beneficial insects.

Frequently Asked Questions