Last edited on 2 Nov 2026. View history

bull's blood beet Bull's Blood Beet

Beta vulgaris

A variety of beet

How to sow bull's blood beet: Direct seed into soil. Thin to 7cm apart when seedlings are 5cm tall.

Sun requirement for bull's blood beet: Plant in Full Sun

A dark red beetroot selected for the darkest leaves, which can be eaten raw when young or cooked when older. Very sweet roots. Selected in 1840 in the Netherlands by the seedsman Kees Sahin from the French variety Crapaudine. Scatter sow in trays under 3 mm of seed-raising mix and transplant 4 to 6 weeks later at 15 cm diagonal spacing. Leaves are edible at about 35 days and roots at about 55 days. A good-quality seed-raising mix avoids black spots and rotting leaves.

0
plantings
0
harvests
0
seed packets
Growstuff is a free, community-run site for people who grow food. Keep track of what you plant and harvest, find seeds to swap, and see what is growing near you. Join to record your own bull's blood beets.
Sign in

Bull's blood beet facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less

Growing bull's blood beets

  1. Dig the bed fine and stone free 1 week before sowing
  2. Water regularly at sowing every week
  3. Thin the seedlings 3 weeks after sowing
  4. Weed between the rows 4 weeks after sowing every 2 weeks
  5. Start pulling young beets at first harvest
  6. Lift the rest of the crop 6 weeks after first harvest

Plant bull's blood beets with

collard greens collard greens passion fruit sweet potato sweet potato spring onion spring onion watermelon radish watermelon radish

Video

What people are saying about bull's blood beets

Nobody has posted about bull's blood beets yet.

Sign in or sign up to post your tips and experiences growing bull's blood beets.
Image of bull's blood beet

Who's planted bull's blood beets

Nobody has planted this crop yet.

Sign in or sign up to track your bull's blood beet plantings.

Bull's blood beet harvests

Nobody has harvested this crop yet.

Sign in or sign up to track your bull's blood beet harvests.

Find bull's blood beet seeds

There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.

Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Beta vulgaris L.

Family / Taxonomy Magnoliopsida
Caryophyllidae
Caryophyllales
Chenopodiaceae
Optimal temperature 15 - 25 °C
Absolute temperature 4 - 35 °C
Killing temperature growth: 0 °C, rest: -3 °C
Optimal rainfall 600 - 800 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 500 - 1000 mm/year
Optimal soil pH 6.0 - 7.0
Absolute soil pH 5.5 - 7.5
Crop cycle 160 - 240 days
Life form herb
Life span biennial
Habit acaulescent (or rosette plants)
Optimal soil depth medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil texture heavy, medium
Optimal soil fertility high
Optimal soil drainage well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)
Photoperiod long day (>14 hours)
Optimal light very bright to light shade

Licensed under CC-BY-4.0 .

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) ECOCROP, the crop ecological requirements database. Version 1. https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/dataset/ecocrop. Accessed through the CGIAR Climate Action Data Hub, https://cgiar-climate-data-hub.github.io/catalog/ecocrop_1/.

Learn more about bull's blood beets

Resources outside Growstuff.