How can I tell when root vegetables are ripe?

Question

I have never planted root vegetables before so I don't know how to tell whether it is ripe or not without pulling the root out of the soil and seeing it.

I love beets and I love carrots also but if I ever grow them, I am going to have to know when they are ripe without pulling them out of the soil. One solution I can see to this is hydroponics where you grow plants in nutrient enriched water. There is just one problem with that. Roots, whether you are talking about the edible roots or the non-edible roots, need oxygen and the little bit of oxygen that is dissolved in water is not enough. However too much oxygen can kill the plant if it isn't doing cellular respiration fast enough.

So how would I know when a beet or a carrot or any other edible root is ripe without pulling the root out of the soil or risking lack of oxygen and oxygen poisoning with hydroponics?

Answer 1

Well, it is so easy, it will probably surprise you:

Beets and carrots grow partly above the soil, especially when they mature.

Especially beets - you may assume that about half of the thick, fleshy part remains exposed. See this picture and note how only the lower part shows traces of soil:

(Source)

Similar for carrots, but you may have to wipe away a tiny bit of soil to get a better idea of the current thickness:

(Source)

The dates on the seed packets will give you a good idea about when you should expect them to be fully ripe, but you might choose to harvest sooner ("baby beets") or later, if you feel they "need a bit more time". Roots don't spoil like fruit does.

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Practical side notes:

If you planted the seeds a tad too close (like in the carrot picture above), you can harvest baby carrots etc. to give the remaining plants adequate room. Likewise, you can stretch your harvest by pulling the largest specimens for your current kitchen needs and letting the smaller ones grow a bit longer.

This does apply only to some extent to radishes, they can get woody or hollow if too old. Here you have only a few days of leeway between "fully grown" and "too late".

Answer 2

Most root foods don't actually "ripen" and can be harvested at any time. If you're looking to maximize the size of the root, some things like carrots and beets will start to show the crown of the root above ground giving you some indication of their size. Other roots like potatoes is pretty much going to be a trust with timing depending on what size you are going for but no matter the size, they are all edible.

Answer 3

For carrots it depends on the type. The seed packet will give the best idea on how many days it will take, but here are some general guidelines:

Baby carrots: 50-60 days

Mature carrots: around 75 days

In most cases, you can look for the tops of the carrot to be about 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch in diameter.

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For beets, again the seed packet will give you a good estimate on the length of time to let them grow.

They can get up to about 4in in diameter, you can pull them when they are the size you'd like after about 45 days (once again take a little soil off the top and you can get a feel for the size of the beets).

Answer 4

Unless you are a farmer producing for some bulk processing use, odds are high that you'll harvest over a period of time anyway. As such, yanking a sample is not detrimental to the overall harvest - it's part of it. If you are a farmer, you'd be sampling anyway.

Both beets and carrots normally need thinning (reduction of plants in the row/bed to allow adequate space for the remaining plants to attain full growth) anyway, and the thinnings are all edible, as well as giving you some idea of progress in growth. And, of course, there's the number of days from when planted and/or emergence - harvest by calendar.

If you are aiming for a bulk harvest to store for personal use, you'll need to plan the planting time so it's ready to harvest (or mulch for later digging, if storing in the ground) when frost comes, and it won't much matter what size it actually is, as that's all you'll be getting that year - which is once again harvesting by calendar (by planning the planting date.)