Re-planting Carrots or Beets for Seed

Autumn Update: If you wish to save seeds from beets, carrots or onions next year, now is the time to set aside your best specimens so they have a period of dormancy before you re-plant them in the winter/spring. See below for ideas on storage. This will only work if you grow heirloom/open-pollinated/non-hybrid varieties.

Original post: Early to mid-winter is the time to re-plant bulb/root crops to grow seed crops. Beets, carrots and onions are biennials. This means they produce seeds in their second year and then die.

Below are pictures of beets (left) that have wintered over and are beginning to sprout leaves and root hairs. These we plant into pots with soil or directly in raised beds in our grow-tunnels. On the right is a picture of a row of potted root crops that are developing enough roots and sprouts to then be planted again in the ground so they can mature and set seeds. Note: seed-saving can only be done with heirloom/non-hybrid varieties.

 

 

 

 

 

Because our ground can be so wet and cold through the winter, we often dig up these root crops in mid to late fall. At harvest time we cut the greens off but leave the crowns so they'll re-sprout. We then store them in a plastic bag or clam-shell container with dried leaves or straw so they stay moist (but not too moist) till we're ready to replant them. A plastic container in the fridge also works well (below).

Those pictured above were harvested in late September and re-planted in late December. In previous years we have waited till January or February for replanting but noticed the beet in the lower right corner was developing mold in its crown so decided it was best to get it in the ground before the mold progressed.

 Here are some Imperator carrots we grew in 2024. You have to have deep, loose soil to grow them. They're not as sweet as the Scarlet Nantes (our other favorite ) but because they're so long, we get more pounds of carrots per bed.

Chris, planting carrots.

Almost done. We bring soil up to, but not covering the crowns. Then we water them well to settle the soil. 

Nantes carrots, 11 days after planting. The greens are already growing! Once the greens get taller, we will put a cage around them to support the greens and flower stalks (see below).  Depending on when one starts re-growing these root-crops, seeds will be ready to harvest in mid to late summer.

Caging: Seed crops can get quite top-heavy and will require caging and staking. Image: Waltham broccoli going to seed. We made a cage out of 4'-tall fencing material and drove stakes deep into the ground.

Caging: For crops with lighter seed-heads (lettuce, above) a simple stake driven in the ground with strips of cotton-sheeting to hold it up will do.

Note: Carrots will cross with wild Queen Anne's Lace (pictured above) and can produce woody, bitter carrots from any crossed seed. To prevent this, we try to time our carrots' flowering to precede that of QAL (which usually happens later in the summer). If you see these growing near your gardens, it's best to cut off the flowers or dig the plant out entirely. This will greatly diminish chances of cross pollination. Image credit: https://white-rock-lake.blogspot.com/2012/05/queen-annes-lace-intrigueing-wildflower.html

Other ways to reduce the risk of cross-pollination: Grow out the seed-crop under cover (grow-tunnel). Carrots can be hand-pollinated by breaking off a flower and tapping it gently on other flowers to spread the pollen (make the flowers 'kiss'). For extra security, cover your flowering carrots with re-may cloth/white row-cover (after hand-pollinating). Image: Imperator carrots, summer 2024, grown from our own, saved seed!

Seed crops often create beautiful 'sprays' of seed heads. Here's Chris with a 'bouquet' of kale seed.

Note: Beets will cross with other varieties of beets as well as CHARD (same family) so keep them isolated from each other if saving multiple varieties of beets, or beets and chard in the same year. Image: Jim, harvesting whole branches of beet seed for processing. Beet flowers have a very sweet scent like Alyssum flowers (or even a mild cotton candy smell!).

Winnowing beet seed. (See these other posts for more info on winnowing seed: Saving and Storing Kale Seed Small-Scale, Grain Production and Processing)

Beet seed after winnowing.

...and the cycle starts again!

Kids who help grow their food are more likely to want to eat it! Here are Bella and Adri with a handful of fresh-dug carrots.