🟣 When to Plant Beets
Direct sow; thin seedlings to 3 inches
📅 Planting Calendar by USDA Zone
Beets is a cool-season crop — plant it around your last spring frost, and you can often start it earlier indoors or sow again for a fall harvest. Find the exact start-indoors, transplant, and direct-sow dates for your USDA zone in the table below.
Select your zone to highlight your dates. All dates are calculated from each zone's average frost dates — see how we calculate them.
| Zone | Last Frost | Start Indoors | Transplant | Direct Sow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 2A | May 30 | — | — | May 2 |
| Zone 3B | May 15 | — | — | Apr 17 |
| Zone 4A | May 8 | — | — | Apr 10 |
| Zone 4B | May 1 | — | — | Apr 3 |
| Zone 5A | Apr 25 | — | — | Mar 28 |
| Zone 5B | Apr 18 | — | — | Mar 21 |
| Zone 6A | Apr 21 | — | — | Mar 24 |
| Zone 6B | Apr 10 | — | — | Mar 13 |
| Zone 7A | Apr 5 | — | — | Mar 8 |
| Zone 7B | Mar 28 | — | — | Feb 28 |
| Zone 8A | Mar 20 | — | — | Feb 20 |
| Zone 8B | Mar 12 | — | — | Feb 12 |
| Zone 9A | Feb 28 | — | — | Jan 31 |
| Zone 9B | Feb 15 | — | — | Jan 18 |
| Zone 10A | Feb 1 | — | — | Jan 4 |
| Zone 10B | Jan 15 | — | — | Dec 18 |
| Zone 11A | Jan 1 | — | — | Dec 4 |
Beets are a dual-purpose crop — eat the roots AND the nutritious greens.
Top Growing Tips
- Each seed cluster produces multiple seedlings — thin to 3 inches
- Soak seeds overnight for faster germination
- Harvest at golf-ball size for sweetest flavor
- Greens can be harvested before roots are ready
- Golden and Chioggia varieties have milder flavor than red
Companion Planting
Good companions: onions, brassicas, lettuce, garlic
Avoid planting near: pole beans, field mustard
Harvest Timeline
50-70 days from seed
Growing beets in your region?
These dates come from your zone's frost windows. For the full month-by-month plan — succession sowing, variety picks, and timing tuned to your climate, not just your zone — our regional vegetable-gardening guides cover your area start to finish.
Find your regional growing guide