How to properly grow the wonderful Kestrel beet hybrid and how it differs from other species

Characteristics and description of the variety

The beets of the variety in question are distinguished by a high concentration of sugar, excellent taste and resistance to disease. The fruits have an even and round shape with a smooth surface and a small root. One root crop weighs 200-400 g and has a bright color. Even after processing, the sugar concentration in beets remains high, making the harvest excellent for making juices. Productivity – 6 kg of crop per meter of planting.

The ripening period lasts 120 days. If the hybrid was planted early, it can later be used as a young bunch product. If planting work was carried out in the second half of July, then the crop can be harvested before frost and stored for a long time.

Description

The leaf rosette is neat, semi-erect, sometimes erect, medium in size, top height 30 - 33 cm. The leaf is bright green, long-petioled, oval in shape, with a shiny, slightly bubbly surface and strongly pronounced wavy along the edge. The central and lateral veins are painted. The petiole is of medium thickness and has an anthocyanin color on the underside. The tops remain healthy until harvesting begins. The rosette of leaves of the variety is quite strong, it is not injured during harvesting, but at the same time it is very easy to remove.

The root crops of this hybrid can be safely called attractive. They are leveled, have an almost round shape and a smooth surface. Sampling of a medium sized head. The axial root is thin, of medium length. The variety has juicy flesh, uniformly colored dark red-raspberry, with a dense but delicate consistency. The great advantage of the pulp is the absence or very slight ringing. The State Register defines taste qualities as good and excellent. Indeed, the taste of the variety is very sweet, because 100 grams of raw pulp contains 10 - 12% sugar (or 5.7 - 10.0% according to the State Register), 13.0 - 17.4% dry matter. In addition, it is worth recalling that beets are the record holder for the content of minerals: iodine, magnesium, calcium, cobalt, zinc, iron, phosphorus and potassium. The size of the root vegetable is convenient for use in cooking, the average weight of the vegetable is 203 - 375 grams, of course, larger specimens also grow, weighing 400 grams or more.

Step-by-step instructions for growing

1. Where and for how much can I buy seed material? You can purchase Kestrel seeds in a specialty store or order online. The cost of planting material in Moscow and St. Petersburg is 3,150 rubles / 50,000 pcs.

2. Boarding time. Kestrel beets can be sown from May to June. The vegetable is planted for seedlings in mid-spring.
3. Choosing a landing site. Beets prefer to grow in a well-lit place where there is diffused sunlight, but no direct sunlight.
4. What should the soil be like? The Kestrel variety will grow well in soil with a neutral or weak acidity level. Sandy soil is not suitable for it. Also, the soil should be loose, nutritious and breathable.
5. Landing. Before planting, it is necessary to carefully prepare the material. To do this, it must be treated with fungicides that eliminate all bacteria. To increase the germination process of planting material, it must be soaked in a growth stimulator for 2 hours, and then rinsed with water and placed on a dry cloth to dry thoroughly.
   Planting seeds is carried out as follows:
   • The sowing depth is 2 cm. A distance of 2-3 cm should be maintained between seeds, and 20-30 cm between rows.

   Sprinkle the seeds with a layer of soil - 3-4 cm.

6. Lightly compact the substrate to allow excess air to escape.
7. Water the soil generously with settled and warm water.
8. Cover the seedlings with plastic wrap, which must be opened every day to prevent condensation.
9. As soon as 2 leaves form on the sprouts, you can pick and transplant them into open ground.
10. Temperature. The optimal temperature for growing the plant is 20-24 degrees.
11. Watering . For uniform development, root crops need moisture, so watering should be done regularly, using warm and settled water. Young plants are moistened once a week in the evening, and adults - once every 1.5-2 weeks, it all depends on weather conditions.

12. Feeding. At the first stages of growth and development, plants need nitrogen, and later they will need to add compounds with potassium, phosphorus and boron.
    As soon as the leaves form, you can water the plants with a solution of mullein infusion (1:8). Kestrel responds positively to foliar feeding. In summer, you can water the plant from a watering can over the leaves with a solution of boric acid. To do this, you need to dissolve 2 g of boric acid in 10 liters of water. In summer, water the leaves with salt water (20 g of raw material per 10 liters of water).

13. Hilling and loosening. After evening watering, you need to start loosening the soil in the morning. Do not do this too deep (2-3 cm). This procedure will prevent the formation of an earthen crust, thanks to which the roots will be able to receive oxygen. It is also recommended to carry out hilling once every 20 days. To do this, you need to lightly loosen the soil and then add it to one side and the other of the bush.
14. Mulching. This is a very important procedure that allows the soil to remain moist for a long time. Sawdust, peat, straw, and other plants are suitable for these purposes. The thickness of the laid layer is 5-7 cm.

Characteristics

• In terms of ripening time, Kestrel belongs to the mid-season varieties. Harvesting is carried out 100 - 120 days after the emergence of seedlings during spring sowing. With summer sowing, the growing season is shorter and ranges from 55 to 60 days. The same short interval of 55 - 60 days is needed for early spring planting for the production of bunch beets;
• productivity is excellent. According to the State Register, marketable yield is 253 - 308 c/ha, which is at the level of 237 taken as the Bordeaux standard. The maximum indicator was achieved in the Rostov region. There the yield was 336 c/ha. Ukrainian farmers in the Nikolaev region harvest about 90 tons of this vegetable from one hectare. From a square meter of an ordinary garden bed you can get up to 3.0 kg;
• the yield of marketable products, even with mechanical harvesting, is quite high and amounts to 84 - 96%;
• The culture shows high resistance to stressful situations and tolerates spring cold snaps well. Dry periods also do not cause significant damage to the crop;
• root vegetables are resistant to cracking;
• One of the advantages of the hybrid is high immunity. Originators indicate intermediate resistance to rhizoctonia (red rot), powdery mildew and downy mildew. Vegetable growers confirm the high resistance of the crop to cercospora. There is no data on the stability of Kestrel in the State Register;
• The variety has virtually no ringing. True, with sudden changes in temperature or high humidity during the growing season, rings may appear, but the degree of their manifestation will be insignificant;
• the transportability of beets is high, the crop can withstand long-term transportation without loss, the root crops are resistant to mechanical damage;
• keeping quality is excellent, the vegetable is intended for long-term storage, during which it is able to preserve not only its appearance, but also its taste;

• The way to use this wonderful hybrid is very wide. Due to the fact that the color saturation is not lost during heat treatment, the vegetable is widely used not only in home cooking, but is also perfect for making baby food. The juicy root vegetable is suitable for processing into juice, freezing, canning, and pickling.

During the growing season, almost half of the root crop appears above the soil surface. This makes it accessible for manual cleaning. Using a pitchfork can make the cleaning process much easier.

Diseases and pests in relation to this species

The variety in question resists the following diseases:

• cercosporiosis;
• powdery mildew;
• fusurium wilt;
• rhizoctonia.

The main parasite affecting beets remains the fly. To prevent this from happening, in the spring you need to water the leaves of the plant with a salt solution. Beet aphids also attack beets. To combat it, it is better to use chemicals, for example, Fitoferm. After 2 weeks after using the product, root vegetables can be used for food.

Also on our website you can read the following articles about beet varieties:

• Vodan F1;
• Boro;
• Pablo F1;
• Mulatto;
• Detroit;
• Bordeaux 237.

Advantages and disadvantages

The good qualities of a hybrid can be listed for a very long time. Let's look at the most important advantages and disadvantages.

• good keeping quality;
• high yield;
• wonderful taste;
• disease resistance.

The disadvantage of this variety is pest damage . But this can be eliminated with proper care of the root crop.

Prevention of various problems

The following preventive measures will help prevent the occurrence of various problems:

1. To protect beets from downy mildew, the soil should not be allowed to become waterlogged.
2. If the leaves begin to dry out and wither ahead of time, then the reason is the lack of proper watering, which must be carried out 1-2 times a week.
3. Small and flaccid root vegetables. This is the result of insufficient nutrition of the plant, so fertilizing must be done regularly.

Kestrel F1 beets are a tasty and healthy root vegetable that can be grown in the garden without any problems. And although the variety is high-yielding, such results can only be achieved if all agrotechnical practices are followed.

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Benefits of beets for the body

Before beets were domesticated, people used wild varieties of this vegetable for food. They began to grow leaf beets first, and then root beets.

This happened in the Mediterranean, presumably several thousand years ago. Even at that time, beets were valued not only as a vegetable, but also, first of all, as a medicinal plant.

Beetroot Kestrel F1

Beetroot as a medicinal product is useful for those who suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract; it is used for the treatment and prevention of anemia, cholelithiasis and kidney stones, diabetes mellitus, scurvy, and hypertension.

Both fresh root vegetables and heat-treated ones are used as a dietary product: boiled, fried, baked, as well as beet juice.

Root vegetables have good shelf life, which facilitates year-round consumption of this vegetable fresh. They contain a significant amount of vitamins, beneficial microelements and antioxidants. In addition to root vegetables, young leaves, which contain no less useful substances, are also eaten.

One of the valuable properties of this vegetable crop is that, unlike other plants used for food, beets contain less acids. Root vegetables contain natural antiseptics that can suppress the development of infectious diseases and pathogenic microflora.

Fiber and other beneficial substances stimulate the activity of the gastrointestinal tract and liver.

Beetroot helps cleanse the blood; it is useful when the body is weakened due to colds.

The consumption rate of this vegetable crop is 5-6 kg per person per year. Fresh beets are available for consumption almost throughout the year. It is usually used after cooking.

Caring for beets in open ground

Beetroot in open ground

Growing beets has its own nuances, which are worth remembering:

• Fresh manure should not be applied to this vegetable crop
• early ripening varieties should be sown on well-drained, fertile soils, which are cultivated in early spring
• for later varieties, denser soil is also suitable
• Beetroot grows best in soils with a pH of 6.5-7.5
• For full plant growth, it is enough to apply a complete balanced mineral fertilizer in the amount of 70-100 g per 1 sq. m. m.

These and other features of growing beets, as well as proper care of this vegetable crop, will be discussed further.

Thinning seedlings is a necessary agrotechnical technique

Sprouted beets

Beet seeds are inflorescences-balls that form 4-5 sprouts, which is why this vegetable crop sprouts not as individual plants, but as a kind of “nests”.

And although in recent years single-fruited beet varieties, the fruits of which contain single seeds, have begun to appear on sale, multi-seeded varieties still remain more common.

In order for the root crops to be large and young plants not to interfere with each other’s development, it is important to carry out timely thinning of the seedlings:

1 The first time beet seedlings should be thinned out after the first true leaf grows . This work must be completed before two pairs of true leaves are formed. Between young plants in a row it is necessary to make a distance of about 2-3 cm.

2 The second thinning is carried out when true 4-5 leaves appear. This is done in such a way that the plants are placed every 4-6 cm. In this case, the largest plants are usually removed from the beds and used for food.

3 After 25-30 days, it is necessary to make a final breakthrough, making the distance between plants about 7-8 cm . It is best to thin out after watering or rain so that the plants can be more easily pulled out of the ground.

Plants that are removed from the garden bed during thinning can be pruned and transplanted to another location one at a time as seedlings.

In this case, it is necessary to “pinch” the main root . Then it will not grow in depth, but will immediately begin to increase mass.

Planting should be done with a distance between rows of about 20 cm. Between plants in a row you need to make a distance of 10-15 cm. The survival rate of such beet seedlings is quite high.

Watering beets

Without moisture, plants are delayed in their development for a long time, and the root crop does not gain mass. This especially applies to the southern regions, where watering should be plentiful. Irrigation significantly accelerates the formation of root crops, contributes to earlier production and increases yield.

Watering beets

Young plants are watered at the rate of ten liters of water per 1 square meter. m. When root crops begin to grow, provided that the weather is dry and hot, watering should be doubled.

Two weeks before harvesting, stop watering the beets.

Lack of water negatively affects the development of plants and the formation of root crops . However, an excess of moisture is also undesirable: it can cause increased leaf growth to the detriment of the formation of juicy roots, and the plants become unstable to diseases.

Weeding, loosening the soil and mulching rows

After watering, the soil between the rows is carefully loosened so that it does not become compacted. To do this, take a small hoe and try not to touch the root crops. Moreover, the first time loosening is carried out in the spring, even before the emergence of shoots. After the first pair of true leaves appear, you need to loosen the rows and weed out weeds.

Beet sprouts

If it is not possible to irrigate in a timely manner, the rows should be mulched with some material, for example, straw or grass. Moisture will be better retained under the mulch, and the soil will not overheat, which is very important for the development of beets.

Beet fertilizers and fertilizing

As already noted, it is not recommended to grow beets immediately after adding fresh manure or compost. It is best to grow beets in such areas two to three years after applying fertilizers. On fertile soils, fertilizers may not be applied at all.

Beet section

On poor soils that are not filled with organic or mineral fertilizers, the beets will not have enough nutrition. In this case, fertilizing will be required. It is preferable to use a herbal infusion as a fertilizer for beets.

Any mineral fertilizer is dangerous because beet roots can accumulate nitrates - this feature is characteristic of this particular vegetable crop.

You only need to feed beets if you think they are not growing well enough. If fertilizers were applied to the site in previous years and the root crops are developing normally, then there is no need to fertilize the beets.

It is often recommended to feed beets with sea salt or even regular rock salt diluted in a bucket of water . Since wild beets originated from areas of the Mediterranean close to the sea, such fertilizing is considered very beneficial for this crop.

Owners of personal plots growing beets note that fertilizing with salt water increases the sugar content of beets. When carrying out such fertilizing, hard fibrous concentric circles become softer, and root vegetables become much tastier and sweeter.

The rate of such fertilizing varies in the literature, and often the optimal amount can be determined experimentally. You can start with this ratio: half a tablespoon of salt per 10 liter bucket of water.

The appearance of yellow round spots on beet leaves indicates that the soil is too acidic and the plants do not have enough potassium . In this case, it is necessary to water the plants with lime milk with the addition of potassium chloride.

Checking beet leaves

Beets respond well to the addition of a microelement such as boron. With its deficiency, beet growth slows down, and the core of root crops becomes loose.

To compensate for the lack of boron, you can add a specialized fertilizer, which is diluted in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. It can be applied in two ways, by performing root or foliar feeding.

Cleaning up old leaves

Beet tops

If the lowest old leaves on a beet begin to turn yellow, they should not be removed until they give up all the nutrients to the root crop and dry out on their own.

Pulling off the leaves before they dry completely can cause the beets to bloom in their first year.