Beetroot grows poorly, red leaves, what to do. The beet leaves are turning red, what should I do? Why do beet leaves wither and dry out?

17.08.2023

Many gardeners ask the question: “Why do beet leaves turn red?” There may be several reasons, each of which leads to negative consequences. Read the article about why this happens and how to solve this problem.

Beet leaf color

In normal condition, beet leaves are green with burgundy veins. However, they are very sensitive to various changes in environmental conditions, which causes their color to change. Thus, plant organs may suddenly turn red, yellow, grey, brown or purple. This is due to the fact that their growing conditions are negative.

In exceptional cases, the cause of reddening of the leaves is frequent and abundant watering. This is typical for beet varieties such as “sugar” and “burgundy”. The quantity of the harvest does not suffer, but its shelf life is reduced.

How to grow beets?

The procedure for growing root vegetables is quite simple. Already two months after sowing in the ground, you can harvest the crop. It doesn’t matter what variety the beets are. It is better to plant in warm ground with loamy soil. Thinning is necessary. Otherwise, dense planting will interfere with plant growth, since some seeds may contain four embryos. It is important to monitor temperature conditions to get a rich harvest.

In order for the root crops to be large, the distance between them must be large enough. Most often, it should be equated to the desired diameter of future fruits, which are harvested after the skin has hardened. Otherwise, the beets will not retain their taste and juiciness for a long time. If you properly care for the plant, problems such as reddening of the leaves will not arise. What affects the color of leaves?

Lack of sodium

One of the most common reasons why beet leaves turn red is a lack of sodium, potassium, phosphorus and other micro- and macroelements in the soil. This situation can be corrected. To saturate the root vegetable with sodium, you need to water it with a saline solution. To do this, dilute 250 grams of table salt in a bucket of water. Two liters of this solution is enough for one square meter.

Phosphorus deficiency

There are signs by which you can understand why beet leaves turn red. Thus, with a lack of phosphorus, the plant organs first become dull, then darken, and only then turn red. This problem can be solved by adding superphosphate fertilizer to the soil.

Potassium deficiency

By what signs can you understand why beet leaves turn red, what is the plant lacking? If the leaves not only become more red, but also curl, then the plant is lacking potassium.

In this case, you need to apply the following fertilizer: fertilize one bed with a glass of tree ash. It is important to make sure that beet leaves turn red and curl precisely because of a lack of potassium. After all, an excess of microelement will lead to the fact that the harvest will not be abundant.

Determination of acidity level

There is another reason why beet leaves turn red. This can happen if the soil acidity is too high. The root crop prefers to grow in a neutral environment. There are several ways to determine the acidity level:

Using litmus paper.
Using a baking soda and vinegar concentrate. To do this, take a lump of earth from the garden bed and moisten it. After that, manually shape it into a flat cake and sprinkle vinegar essence on it. If there is a hissing sound, then the nature of the soil is alkaline. If there is no reaction, then the medium is either neutral or acidic. In this case, you should make another cake and pour a little soda on it. The presence of a reaction indicates that the soil is acidic.

Neutralization of acidic soil

We found out that acidic soil causes beet leaves to turn red. What to do in this case? To neutralize the soil, you should use ash, since it is absolutely safe for plants and does not harm the soil. The acidity level of the soil will determine the required amount of ash. On average, about 100 grams per square meter is used. You can use lime or dolomite flour for these purposes. However, they do not have the best effect on the ground.

Beet cercospora

If beets grow poorly, the leaves turn red, and a border appears on their edges, then we can assume that the cause is beet cercospora. Other signs of this problem are brownish-burgundy dry spots on the leaf blade and numerous holes on them. A fungal disease such as cercospora blight attacks different types of beets. Most often it appears towards the end of summer in humid weather. So, due to the disease, the leaves of the beets turn red. What to do in this case?

To prevent the occurrence of this disease, before sowing it is necessary to dip the seeds in a solution of potassium permanganate. When the seedlings appear, they should be sprayed with fungicide once every two weeks or 10 days. It is advisable to treat plants with copper-containing preparations. A 1% solution of copper sulfate is suitable for these purposes. In addition, it is necessary to regularly remove damaged or dried leaves from the beds. In hot weather and dry periods, plants should be watered abundantly and the soil around them should be loosened.

Yellowing of leaves

Beet tops can not only turn red, but also turn yellow. This happens for a reason. We have already found out why beets grow poorly and the leaves of the plant turn red. What are the causes of yellowing of tops?

Lack of moisture.
Nitrogen deficiency in the soil.

To solve a problem such as yellowing of the tops and slower growth of root crops, it is necessary to fertilize the soil with bird droppings or mullein diluted in water. Most often, no more than a liter of such solution is used for one bed.

Where at least one bed would not be allocated for planting beets. This root vegetable is considered easy to grow, however, unless you are the lucky owner of fertile, light loam, it can be difficult to obtain. One indicator of possible problems is redness of beet leaves.

It should be noted right away that redness of the leaves does not always indicate non-compliance with the biological requirements of this crop during the growing process. There are varieties of beets whose tops turn red when frequently watered; this does not affect the final harvest in any way; there is only a concern that such beets will not be able to be stored for a long time in the winter. Moreover, in well-developed strong plants, the leaves can be filled with beet juice. In this case, the beet petioles become very juicy.

In a word, if the plants develop normally and have enough energy and nutrition to form roots, there is nothing to worry about.

It’s another matter when the redness of the aboveground part of the beet is associated with obvious growth retardation, when the root crop is not formed and the tops do not develop. In this case, it is important to understand the reason for this phenomenon.

Too acidic soil is the first and most common reason that prevents the plant from absorbing nutrients from the soil solution. Beets will give a full harvest only on soils with neutral acidity, the solution to this problem is to sprinkle the soil under the plantings well or spill it with an ash solution (2-3 cups per 10 liters of water). Before watering, the solution must be mixed, otherwise the plants will not receive the phosphorus contained in the sediment.

Chalk or dolomite flour are not suitable as an “ambulance” for reducing acidity, since these substances are slow-acting and are best applied during digging in the fall.

Additional liming of the soil will help plants more fully absorb phosphorus, which beets need throughout the growing season.

With a deficiency of phosphorus, the beet tops fade, acquire a dark green color, and then turn red; with a deficiency of potassium, the leaves become dark red, and in case of a critical shortage of this element, they turn white and dry out. Lack of magnesium, in which the edges of the leaves curl upward, and manganese also leads to redness of the above-ground parts of the plant.

Feeding the plants will help correct the situation. To do this, use a solution of slurry (1:10) or bird droppings (1:20), the solution consumption is 1 liter per 1 running meter.

The lack of sodium in the soil is compensated by salt water (1 glass of salt per 10 liters of water), which is used to water the beets at the rate of 1 liter per 1 running meter.

Svela is an unpretentious garden crop that does not require much care. It is impossible to imagine a garden where this crop was not sown. This root vegetable can without a doubt be called unpretentious in cultivation. But problems with beets can still appear. Many gardeners are interested in the question of red beet leaves and what to do about it.

Beet leaves turn red when growth is stunted, when the root crop is not formed and the tops are not developed. Reddening of the leaves can be noticed when the seedlings are growing and in open beds. It is important to understand and understand the cause of red beet leaves and determine why red leaves appear.

Main reasons:

Acidic soil

This is the most popular reason that prevents the absorption of nutrients from the soil. The tops on such soil become red, the leaves become small, and the root crops do not grow to normal size and become hard and tasteless. First you need to determine the acidity of the soil in the garden. It is not difficult to check the soil reaction. To do this, take baking soda and vinegar. Then we take a lump of earth, soak it and make a cake on a flat surface. Next, pour a little vinegar on top and see the result. A reaction should occur with the appearance of bubbles, this means that the soil is alkaline, if nothing appears, then the soil is neutral or acidic. Then we make another cake and sprinkle it with soda. If a reaction occurs, then the earth is acidic. The solution to this problem is ash, which must be fertilized the soil before planting and spilled with an ash solution. The rate of ash consumption for soil deoxidation depends on the pH level. On average, take a solution of 100 g per 1 m².

TIP: Beets produce a full harvest on soil with neutral acidity.

Deficiency of phosphorus and potassium.

This reason contributes to the fading of the tops and the acquisition of a greenish color, and subsequently the reddening of the leaves of the vegetable. If there is a critical lack of phosphorus, this leads to disease and drying out. You can increase the phosphorus content in the soil with properly selected fertilizers that are applied to the soil. Usually a solution of slurry (1:10) or bird droppings (1:20) is used. The solution consumption in the garden bed is 1 liter. by 1 p.m.

If there is insufficient potassium in the soil, beet leaves turn red and curl at the same time. In this case, the situation is corrected with the help of potash fertilizers and fertilizing with wood ash.

Lack of magnesium and manganese

Leads to curling of leaves upward and reddening of the ground part of the plant. Correct the situation with fertilizing.

Lack of sodium.

The leaves of the root vegetable change color because there is not enough sodium. You can fix the problem quickly and easily: water the bed with saline solution. To make it we take 250 gr. ordinary table salt and dissolve it in ten liters of water. For every meter of bed, about one liter of salt solution is used. Beets need to be watered not at the root, but from above, so that the solution gets onto the leaves.

TIP: Before increasing the sodium level, you need to make sure that it is the cause of the red leaves. Since an excess of this microelement in the soil can affect the yield of beets.

Feeding.

This is another reason. Its excess leads the tops of the crop first to a red color, and then to complete drought.

There are several reasons why beets do not grow and the leaves turn red. But, before you start fighting this disease, you need to determine the cause of the red leaves. If you do not make any attempts to combat the redness of the leaves, this can lead to a large loss of harvest.

Beet leaves turn red - why this happens and what to do

Beets are unpretentious to grow, but if the rules of agricultural technology are not followed, reddening of the leaves may occur. Such crops are stunted and develop incorrectly.

Let us immediately note that reddening of beet leaves is not always a sign of any disease. In some varieties (Sugar and Burgundy), the tops become red as a result of frequent and abundant watering. Typically, such vegetables are poorly stored, but this redness does not affect the quality and quantity of the harvest. Therefore, if the plant develops normally, there is nothing to worry about. But if there is growth retardation, you need to identify the cause as soon as possible and eliminate it.

Reason 1: acidic soil
This is the most common cause of redness of beet tops. The crop prefers soils with neutral acidity, so before sowing the seeds, the acidic soil must be limed (spill with a thoroughly mixed ash solution - 2-3 cups of wood ash per 10 liters of water). And in the fall, before digging, it is recommended to add chalk or dolomite flour to the soil (450-500 g per 1 sq.m.).

Soil liming

Liming the soil will not only reduce acidity, but will also help the beets absorb phosphorus - an important element necessary for the proper development of this plant

Reason 2: Battery deficiency
Redness of beet tops can be caused by a lack of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, manganese or sodium. Thus, with a phosphorus deficiency, the above-ground part of the plant first acquires a dark green color, and after some time becomes red.

With a lack of potassium, the tops also become dark red (especially around the edges), and in severe cases, they become sick and dry out. This disease is often called marginal necrosis.

With a lack of magnesium, the tops turn brown and curl upward; a deficiency of manganese and sodium also leads to redness of the cut part of the plant.

Regular fertilizing will help replenish the missing elements in the soil. To eliminate magnesium and manganese deficiency, it is recommended to use a solution of slurry (1:10) or chicken manure (1:20). In this case, the fertilizer consumption is 1 liter per 1 linear meter.

Beet feeding

Beets need properly fertilized soils with neutral acidity.

Fertilizing with lime and potassium is also useful for beets: 200 g of lime and 80 g of potassium chloride are dissolved in 10 liters of water, everything is thoroughly mixed and the plants are watered every 14 days at the rate of 1 liter of solution per 1 linear meter. Feeding is stopped when signs of nutritional deficiency disappear.

To eliminate sodium deficiency, you need to add table salt to the water for irrigation (at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water). And the lack of phosphorus is compensated with superphosphate in a dosage of 30-40 g per 1 sq.m.

Please note: if there is an excess of micro- and macroelements, beet leaves may also turn red. Therefore, follow the correct dosage of applied fertilizers.

Reason 3: beet cercospora
This problem is more difficult to deal with than the previous ones. If the beet leaves not only turn red, but have a border at their edges, and the entire leaf blade is covered with brown-burgundy dry spots that gradually turn into holes, then the plant is attacked by a fungal disease - cercospora.

Beet cercospora

Symptoms of beet cercospora

This disease affects both sugar and fodder beets. Most often it appears in the second half of summer in humid weather. The fungus can reduce the harvest by almost half. Therefore, it is important to start treatment on time and not forget about preventive measures.

Before sowing, treat the seeds in a solution of potassium permanganate. After the emergence of seedlings, spray the plantings with any fungicide 3-4 times during the growing season, and treat them with copper-containing preparations (for example, a 1% solution of copper sulfate) every 10-14 days.

Beets are unpretentious to grow, but if the rules of agricultural technology are not followed, reddening of the leaves may occur. Such crops are stunted and develop incorrectly.

Let us immediately note that reddening of beet leaves is not always a sign of any disease. In some varieties ( Sugar And Burgundy) the tops become red as a result of frequent and abundant watering. Typically, such vegetables are poorly stored, but this redness does not affect the quality and quantity of the harvest. Therefore, if the plant develops normally, there is nothing to worry about. But if there is growth retardation, you need to identify the cause as soon as possible and eliminate it.

Reason 1: acidic soil

This is the most common cause of redness of beet tops. The crop prefers soils with neutral acidity, so before sowing the seeds, the acidic soil must be limed (spill with a thoroughly mixed ash solution - 2-3 cups of wood ash per 10 liters of water). And in the fall, before digging, it is recommended to add chalk or dolomite flour to the soil (450-500 g per 1 sq.m.).

Liming the soil will not only reduce acidity, but will also help the beets absorb phosphorus - an important element necessary for the proper development of this plant

Reason 2: Battery deficiency

Redness of beet tops can be caused by a lack of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, manganese or sodium. Thus, with a phosphorus deficiency, the above-ground part of the plant first acquires a dark green color, and after some time becomes red.

With a lack of potassium, the tops also become dark red (especially around the edges), and in severe cases, they become sick and dry out. This disease is often called marginal necrosis.

With a lack of magnesium, the tops turn brown and curl upward; a deficiency of manganese and sodium also leads to redness of the cut part of the plant.

Beets need properly fertilized soils with neutral acidity.

Please note: if there is an excess of micro- and macroelements, beet leaves may also turn red. Therefore, follow the correct dosage of applied fertilizers.

Reason 3: beet cercospora

This problem is more difficult to deal with than the previous ones. If the beet leaves not only turn red, but have a border at their edges, and the entire leaf blade is covered with brown-burgundy dry spots that gradually turn into holes, then the plant is attacked by a fungal disease - cercospora.

Symptoms of beet cercospora

In addition, promptly remove damaged and dried leaves from the garden bed. Plantings should be well ventilated. In hot and dry weather, water the plants generously and loosen the soil around them.