How to Grow Perfect Root Vegetables | Gardening 101 | Gardening Australia

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00:00 – Why Root Vegetables Are So Rewarding
00:42 – The Secret: Timing Your Sowing Right
01:25 – Preparing the Perfect Root Crop Bed
02:15 – Soil Conditions & Nutrients for Root Crops
03:10 – Sowing Seeds and Spacing Tips
04:05 – Common Mistakes to Avoid
04:55 – How to Keep Soil Moist and Loose
05:35 – When and How to Harvest Root Vegetables
06:20 – Millie’s Final Tips for Healthy Root Crops

Millie shares her tips on getting the best out of your root crops.

Timing is critical for growing root crops, especially in cool climates. Millie waits for the soil to warm up a little and for a forecast of fine weather on the way before sowing.

She prepares the soil by weeding and gently forking over the soil where a hungry crop of radicchio has recently grown – root crops don’t need much in the way of nutrients so planting them after leafy greens is a good rotation.

Millie adds just a light sprinkle of homemade compost to help keep moisture in the soil and then rakes the bed to get a fine tilth. This ensures the seeds will have good contact with the soil.

She makes rows in the soil – about 10cm apart – using a rake she adapted especially for this purpose.

Root crops are usually sown directly into the soil to avoid disturbing the roots once they start growing.

Carrots are especially sensitive to being disturbed. However, the seeds are also very small so it’s hard to sow the seed evenly. One trick that Millie learnt from Peter Cundall was to thoroughly mix the seed into a small amount of fine soil or sand, making it easier to get an even distribution of seed. Sow the soil mix thinly then lightly backfill and firm down to ensure contact with the soil.

Beetroot – Millie soaks the seed in water overnight to speed up germination. The seed is much larger and easier to handle. You can get multiple plants from each seed – the botanical name for this is aggregate seeds – but the seedlings cope well with growing close together. Millie grows the striped variety ‘Chioggia’ as well regular reds. Drop the seed into the rows and then firm down a light covering of soil to ensure they’re covered.

Parsnips – many people struggle to grow parsnips, usually because the seed needs to be exceptionally fresh. As soon as it starts to age, it becomes less viable. The best way to ensure fresh seed is to allow plants to flower and collect your own seed – you’ll often find parsnips self-seeding and they can become a bit of a weed in some areas.
The large, papery seed takes a bit longer to germinate (about a month), so sowing it a bit earlier when the soil is still cool will work well.

To keep the rows of seed cool and moist, Millie covers the whole bed with some old lace curtains. This will allow in some sun and air through while holding moisture in the soil after watering.

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