It looks like beets have germination periods of 5-14 days. I'd just sit tight for another week.

Agree with pdxmark you should wait at least another week maybe even longer depending on temps. Here is a link to a table with veg/ave temp/% germ/germ days. Hope it helps

http://tomclothier.hort.net/page11.html

Beets are not fast germinators but they usually are dependable, given time. It has been colder than normal across WA so give them at least TWO more weeks. If you dig them up in a week you will prob. lose time as the new seeds will take a little while also.

Often people replant with a different brand of seed after a first loss (often due to cold soil though they don't realize it) and then say the second company's seed is better when in fact the difference is often just that the second sowing was done at a better soil temp.

I've found beets to be reliable. This year's first planting has been in for 10 days and I'd say only half have popped up so far. Yesterday's hailstorms and last night's frost didn't help.

My beet seeds have never taken more than about 10 days to germinate, usually they are up (or at least a few of them) in under a week. But, my soil temps are also about 50 degrees or more at the time I sow them.

What are your soil temps?

BTW, my beets are just popping up now, and my temps have been pretty similar to yours. I did have them under a row cover, to protect them from too much hard rain and extreme cold nights.

Wait it out another week, and see what happens. They are probably fine.

Eaglesgarden,

When do you plant your beet seeds? I planted mine in the first week of march and only couple seem to have sprouted recently. Just curious to know if I should put in some more seeds.

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure it was April 4th or 5th...I forgot to record it in my log. I did it the same time as my carrots and rutabaga.

I have them under a floating row cover (and I have had the row cover over the area I planted them for about 2 weeks prior - to protect my spinach from extreme cold).

Beet seeds are pretty cheap, and readily available. Personally, I would probably put a few more seeds in. What variety did you plant, I planted Detroit Reds.

I put in Beet(Tall top Early Wonder) variety. I guess, I'll put in a few more seeds just-in-case. My carrots seem to have germinated fine. I started Carrot(Danvers 126) and Carrot(Scarlet - Nantes type) varieties.

Thanks!

My beets usually germinate a week to two weeks before the carrots.

I've never heard of beets taking 4 weeks to germinate, that's way too long. I don't know what conditions would have caused that, but I would definitely start new ones if I were you! My carrots have taken up to three weeks to germinate (most start during the second week). So, if the carrots are up, and the beets are not, I would assume it's time to start new beets.

Remember also.... beet seeds are not a "seed", but a cluster of seeds. Once they do germinate, you'll be thinning for a while

Good point. My wife saw them for the first time yesterday, and asked, "why did you plant so many?"

Well that's something I didn't know. Thanks! Mine are winter-sown not last weekend, but the weekend before, and mine are up. I planted them into room-temperature potting mix if that makes any difference, but they were put directly outdoors to germinate, and are doing fine.

Yeah, there is nothing to be done about it. Just broadcast sow, and thin later.

Now, the big question is, what to do with the beets that you thin out?!

Personally, I think they are great for a baby greens salad. Wash them off and trim off any extra long root hairs. (The entire beet plant is edible, both root and leaf!) Just throw it in a salad with some leaf lettuce and/or spinach and enjoy! Personally, it gets me even more excited for the harvest to come! My dressing of choice is a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, but to each their own!

Hay eaglesgarden - It's obvious you don't garden in wet, cold Western WA! ;-) 4 weeks to germinate can happen here, although we do try to wait until the soil warms up. Sometimes that's June though...

Ya, they are great in a salad!

Im planting beet seeds for the first time in my garden also. After reading my gardening bible (johnnyseedscatalog) I decided to wait a little. We've had unusually cold weather and a lot of rain for this time of year, and the catalog seems to suggest most seeds germinate at higher temps. So I'm sitting tight. Hope it all works out!

I never have gardened in the NW. I'm in sePA. I experimented a little with the best time to sow beets, and I've found that I can put them in right around the last frost date, with good success. We've had a lot of rain recently, but that happened AFTER the beets popped up. Usually April is very wet here, but I would imagine nothing like WA.

I just harvested most of mine, leaving a few small ones in for a couple more weeks. I replanted with golden beets this time, and since temps seem optimal, bang on 77 at this moment, I should see some soon. Yay! Looking forward to golden beets for a change.

I planted beet seeds and only 3 came up so I planted lots more and not a one came up. This last planting was six weeks ago, We have had very hot weather. The seeds seem to have disappeared a I dug into the bed and found nothing. Could something be eating the seeds? LB in Oregon

I planted beets June 2, and still not even a leaf!! And now we have these rain and thunder storms! Hope something comes up in my garden!! This