This is one of my chronic issues, and I'm getting sick of it. The situation:

Low raised beds, amended with some horse manure (no bedding included), otherwise our native heavy loam, pH about 7-7.5. Phosphorus levels are good enough to grow GIANT onions, and other root veggies come out just fine, including carrots and garlic. I sow beet seed with the rest of the winter veggies, around the first of October when the heat is finally starting to fade, temps are still in the low 80s. I sow heavily to try to beat the munching pests, then spread about 1/2" of light mulch over them. The heavy soil holds moisture well. Water is from a well, high in boron and calcium salts, of adequate quality for tomatoes, squash, and everything else.

I get great germination of both beet and chard seeds, and do my first cautious thinning. This is where it gets weird: the chard continues to grow, reaching maturity by December or so, right on time. (It pauses for a bit during the coldest weather, then gets really thick as things warm up in February.) The beets... sit there. They have their seed leaves, and sometimes they put up one or two true leaves, but then nothing.I'm familiar with the "root growth" pause that many plants get after sprouting, but they sit like that until MARCH. Then, if they've survived, they put out more leaves, develop a root within a month, and I can harvest them in April.

Beets and chard are very closely related, and both are recommended as fall/winter crops here, growing during all but the coldest weather. By all reports, they should act just like my chard. Instead, I'm getting DTMs of 180 days. What the heck is going on?

I had the same experience with beets planted in late October in a high raised bed full of rich compost... they're just barely sizing up now. I've tried Detroit Dark Red and one of the Renee's mixes (Chioggia, yellow, and red varieties). The Chioggia and the yellow didn't survive the months-long seedling stage.

I'm so frustrated I'm trying a crop now, during hot weather, despite reading that beets grown in temperatures over 80 degrees turn out bitter and fibrous. They're up, but I'm betting they won't put out true leaves until September -- so I should be right on time! :) Assuming they don't fry in 100-degree weather...

They have nitrogen (as much as the lettuce), potassium, some phosphorus, plenty of boron, regular water, slightly alkaline soil... do they need lots more phosphorus than any other root veggie? Am I missing something else? Or am I just doomed to have beets that take six months?

Thanks :)

--Alison