Question about beet "strings"
 

So today was spent pickling beets. I grew several varieties but planted a little late for the fall crop, and procrastinated about thinning/transplanting until a bit late so I wound up with lots of beets that never got bigger than an inch or so in diameter.

My question involves the hard, fibrous "strings" that run down the center of some of the beet roots. I was quite surprised at how many of even the small beets had this problem. It took me a long time to slice because of this and didn't seem to be just certain varieties, although one of the Lutz varieties* was probably the worst.

*(I purchased Lutz seed from Cook's Garden, Turtle Tree and Pinetree to compare them because I had read that the "true" Lutz wasn't easily available anymore. The ones from Pinetree and Cook's seemed the same but the ones from Turtle Tree were a completely different beet and was the one with the most strings, but maybe that's a topic for another thread.)

So the real question is whether these strings result from soil or weather conditions, watering problems, etc. or if there are varieties that don't have these annoying things. Smooth, non-fibrous beets would have greatly cut down on processing time today.

I love beets but only grew them this year myself. I'd like to know about those stringy roots too!

Wish I could help, but don't ever recall stringy bits/roots in beets. Mind you, I have only grown Cylindra, Chiogga and Rodina, so perhaps they are not susceptible. Sounds like lack of water, though.

kath i have grown beets for several years but i never saw any strings in them and that's with beets sown in early april or mid summer for fall harvest. i have only grown ace red.

tom

Thanks everybody for your replies- if I'd known it was such an oddity, I'd have taken pictures. Often these things that I'm calling strings are much thicker and more numerous at the top of the beet and they're always in the center and just a clump of fibrous material that can be dug out and pulled away from the beet after it's been sliced in half vertically. Other times it's just a thin single whitish strand that's actually too hard for the knife to cut through easily and as you slice a whole beet horizontally, the strand will be pulled out from the rest of the beet. It's hard, kind of like a fish bone.

Red Ace is one I've grown for years, too, and lately I've been trying to find open pollinated replacements for spring and fall. Maybe it's just a variety issue. I've seen this many times before this year, though. I only grew Red Ace this spring before I ran out of seed, so I don't remember if any had strings. Also only grew Chioggia this spring and don't remember.

Have found them in Cylindra for sure this fall and also in both Lutz beets, Detroit Dark Red, Detroit Supreme and Wodan and Boro.

So have you found them, too, lakelady?

I always thought it had to do with size of the beet (larger beets), but this article indicates it is due to hot weather and water stress (bottom of page 2 under freq. ask questions).

[URL]http://extension.usu.edu/boxelder/files/uploads/Vegetable%20Gardens/beetspr.pdf[/URL]

From what I have read, one of the benefits of Lutz beet is that it doesn't become woody like other beets. However, as you mentioned in your post, it is difficult to find "true" Lutz beet seed. I have been looking for Lutz seed for some time, and haven't found it. Fedco sells it, but they have had seed problems for the last 2 - 3 years, so I keep checking their catalog every year.

Mark-
I'm not sure that what I'm seeing is a woody beet, though- aside from the tiny white strand these beets sliced like butter and are very tender. Our weather this fall hasn't been hot and I water the raised beds regularly when we don't have rain- maybe the large amounts of frequent rain was too much?

Have you grown the real Lutz, Mark? One of them had light pink/green stalks that were very distintive looking. I think it was Fedco's catalog where I read last year about the difficulty in finding true seed.

Kath,

Did any of the beets have black areas, especially on the outside and maybe sunken ??

If so, that's a Boron deficiency. Beets are very sensitive to that. A little Borax in your beds would solve that.

I don't know what the white strings are as I've never seen that.

Carol

[QUOTE=Wi-sunflower;240057]Kath,

Did any of the beets have black areas, especially on the outside and maybe sunken ??

If so, that's a Boron deficiency. Beets are very sensitive to that. A little Borax in your beds would solve that.

I don't know what the white strings are as I've never seen that.

Carol[/QUOTE]

Some of them did in the spring, especially on the bottoms, where they seemed split or indented and dark in that area. It only seemed skin deep, though. I did sprinkle a borax/water mix on the beds in late August.

I've got to get a picture if I have this problem again. The only beets I didn't pickle were the Touchstone Golds, which I love for fresh eating, so I'll see if any of them were affected.

[QUOTE=kath;240045]Have you grown the real Lutz, Mark? One of them had light pink/green stalks that were very distintive looking. I think it was Fedco's catalog where I read last year about the difficulty in finding true seed.[/QUOTE]

I haven't grown the real Lutz. Fedco is generally an organization I personally trust to sell "true" Lutz beet seed. They tend to have a strong commitment to keeping all of their seed "true" to form, and are honest in their catalog when a crop failure occurs and the "true" seed isn't available. But even then, it is never a certainty the seed is 100% true.

Sandhill sells a Lutz beet, but say in the description that it isn't "true" seed, so it must be very difficult to find "true" Lutz beet seed.