catsgurleygirl, OK now this is totally different than anything I have ever done OR ever heard anyone else do -but- I just planted beets and they are growing like gangbusters. I can not tell you why I did this other than to say I was reading several different threads and put all of the info into my head. Here is what I did. 1. Forgot to plant the beets in early April. 2. Put the beet seeds in a glass with 50% warm tap water and 50% hydrogen peroxide (3%) 3. Let the seeds soak 24 hours. 4. Remove the seeds from soak and place in 100% hydrogen peroxide for about 1-2 hours. 5. Rolled the beet seeds up in a wet (not soaking wet) paper towel and placed in a plastic cup and put in the fridge for 2 days. 6. On day 2 I looked at the seeds and they all had tiny white roots coming out -BUT- I was not ready to plant 7. Moistened the paper towel a bit and placed seeds back in fridge. 8. On day 5 (or was it day 4??) I planted those seeds 3/4 to 1 inch deep in my raised bed. (bed has full sun until 2PM then light shade) I watered the soil and expected nothing!! 9. On day 7 (or maybe day 8)I had beet babies starting to come up. Now, the seeds all had white roots when I planted them. I have ABSOLUTELY no idea why I did this -but- I do like to experiment so perhaps that is why. Try soaking your beet seeds overnight in warm water and be sure to water your planting bed -BEFORE- planting your seeds and firm the soil (gently) over the seeds. I know it is hot in Memphis. I'm in Central Virginia and it was in the 80's when I planted these seeds. (I plant everything in late evening.) BTW I grow Lutz Green Leaf beets which do well in heat. Cheers, DL

expert I am not. experienced I am. The winter sun in the north where both of you are located gets shorter and shorter. If you intend on a production of vegetables in the house, you'll have to use florescent or other lighting to be able to grow sun loving plants enough to produce good. Cucumbers are difficult inside. Smaller sized tomatoes are more successful. Leaf Lettuces, cilantros, parsely, mizuna, arugula (rocket), corn salad, bok chois and other asian veges, can sit on a southern exposed window sill. Anything other than a south facing window and you'll need lights. Jason, as far as how high in the pot do you put soil, the more the better is usually good advice. In containers for the winter, you'll likely have to feed them weekly doses of small amounts of fertilizers. They can't get it from the potting mix unless you're using the type that has ferts in them. How do you space them? That depends on the shape of the pot but you'll want them just as you'll likely image it, as far from one as the other evenly spaced but not on the edges. I like Pam's idea of cold frames over her perfect choice of planting for a fall harvest I'd add beets to that too cuz even if they don't bulb and they might with mulch, the leaves are excellent for color and taste in salads. ~tom

Oldokie, Getting beet seed to sprout is half the battle. We need to grow beets when temperatures are cool in order to get the best yield and best quality, and yet, they sprout poorly in cold soil. Beet seed will germinate at almost any soil temperature between about 45 and 85, but you get the best germination when soil temperatures are 77 degrees. However, for the best-quality beets we need to have our beets planted and growing early, so they can mature before air temperatures begin regularly exceeding 65 degrees. For me, this means that I can get seeds to sprout pretty easily and quickly in fall, where they make a nice crop before the temperatures get too cold, and it is harder to get a good crop in spring. I am in southern OK where it often it too cold for good beet seed germination one week, and then too hot for good beet seed germination by the next week. I feel like the window of opportunity to get good germination is really brief some years. You can trick your beets into sprouting quickly in a couple of ways. One way is by laying down black plastic on top of the soil for 2 to 4 weeks before you intend to plant your beet seeds. I usually weigh it down with 2 x 4 lumber or metal fence posts so it won't blow away. That will help warm up cold winter soil and increase your chances of getting good germination. Then, you can soak your beet seeds in a bowl of water in the refrigerator for 24 hours before you sow the seed into the soil. (This method works well with spinach seed as well.) Using these two 'tricks' in combination usually will give you a good stand of beets, even in late winter or early spring's erratic conditions. Once the beets are up and growing, they are fairly heavy feeders, so if I had thin, sandy soil, I'd add composted manure, compost, or some other form of organic matter to the soil to help improve it. I always gather and chop/shred autumn leaves to my garden beds in the fall and by spring they are already breaking down into a lovely leaf mold that improves the soil wonderfully. You have to chop or shred the leaves (we run over them with the lawn mower and catch them in the mower's grass catcher) in order for them to break down quickly. If you use whole, intact leaves it can take them a year or two to break down. The OSU-recommended planting dates for beets encompass the entire month of March. With OSU planting dates given as a range, the earlier date is for southeastern OK and the later date for northwestern OK. People living in between those two opposite ends of the state can choose any date between those two dates that seems appropriate for them. Down here in southern OK, I'd plant very early in March, but if I was in northwestern OK, I'd plant between the middle and end of the month. I also would plant earlier if it was a warm winter, and might plant later in the month if it was a cold winter. Choose the part of March that makes sense to you based on your current conditions at planting time. You can succession sow more seeds every 3 weeks in order to spread out the harvest, and you'll get beets of fairly good quality until air temperatures start reaching the 80s, although they are best if harvested before the air temperature begins regularly exceeding 65 degrees. I get much better crops of beets when I plant them in the fall and harvest them between Thanksgiving and Christmas than when I plant them in the spring. I had a really good beet crop this fall, and a smaller crop back in the spring when the weather got too hot much too early. I've linked Tom Clothier's Chart that shows the relationship between soil temperature and seed germination. At each soil temperature, he shows you the percentage of seeds that sprouted and how many days it took them to sprout. The 'best' temperature is printed in red. Because we so often go from 'too hot' to 'too cold' all in the same week in spring, I don't necessarily wait until my soil temps reach the amount he has printed in red, but I usually don't plant at the coldest temperatures when germination rates are very low and it can take a month or more for them to sprout. I usually plant a week or two before I expect my soil temperatures will reach the best temperature. I take my soil's temperature using an oven thermometer with a probe, but some nurseries and garden centers sell soil thermometers or compost thermometers intended for the same use, but with a longer probe than the one I have on my old kitchen thermometer. The last time I tried to buy a kitchen thermometer to use in the garden, it was hard to find one that measured cold enough temperatures. I kept finding thermometers that started at higher temperatures, so the next time I may have to buy an actual soil thermometer. You also can get soil temperatures at various depths from your OK Mesonet station. Let me know if you want me to link the soil temperature page from the Mesonet if it is new to you and you are not familiar with it. Hope this helps, Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Tom Clothier's Vegetable Seed Germination Chart

Sorry slick I am all out of beets! There is an adopt a newbie post you can request to have someone adopt you for the cost of a bubble envelope and a few stamps you can get a variety of seeds. It will help if you make a trade list and list what you are looking for and what zone you are in