Beetroot · Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
When to plant beetroot in Pretoria
Main outdoor window
3-17 Jul
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
24 July
In Pretoria, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
22 Aug - 11 Sep
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Pretoria
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Sow for autumn
26 Feb - 19 Mar
Counting back 84 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
3-17 Jul
Three weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
22 Aug - 11 Sep
Beetroot through the year
Against the frost risk in Pretoria
Why these dates
Sow from three weeks before last frost, then every three weeks until ten weeks before first frost. Small roots taste better than large ones.
Seedlings take a light frost. Very early sowings into cold soil can trigger bolting later, so do not rush the first one.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Beetroot are timed for direct sowing 3 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Pretoria.
The median frost-free season here is 322 days, against 50 to 70 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Pretoria
Other vegetables to time
Growing beetroot in Pretoria
When should I plant beetroot in Pretoria?
Aim for 3-17 Jul in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 20 Jul - 3 Aug - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will beetroot be ready to harvest in Pretoria?
Expect to start picking around 22 Aug - 11 Sep, based on 50 to 70 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will beetroot tolerate?
Seedlings take a light frost. Very early sowings into cold soil can trigger bolting later, so do not rush the first one.