Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners - Variety Details

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'Detroit Dark Red' Beets

Sub-Category:	Round Red

Sub-Category 2:
Description:	Open-pollinated heirloom. Nearly uniform, smooth, globe-shaped, deep-red roots up to 3 inches across. 12- to 15-inch, green tops with maroon tinge. Stores well.
Days To Maturity:	58-63
Seed Sources:	Seed Savers Exchange - updated in 2024 Henry Field's Seed and Nursery Co. - updated in 2024 BBBseed - updated in 2024 Lake Valley Seed - updated in 2024 Western Wonder, LLC - updated in 2024 Thompson & Morgan US Seed Co. - updated in 2024 Hudson Valley Seed Co - updated in 2024

Rating Summary

Overall: (4.2 Stars) Taste: (4.3 Stars) Yield: (4.1 Stars) Ease/Reliability: (4.4 Stars)

Reviews

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Number of Reviews: 28

KEY: O=Overall Rating, T=Taste, Y=Yield, E=Ease

Reviewed on 12/05/2012 by ClaudiaH. - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Cortland, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 143 - 163 days Soil Texture: Clay Garden Size: Medium - 400 square feet to 1,600 square feet Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
Detroit Dark Red have a dark maroon to black color. They grow well and can become large while still staying tender

Reviewed on 10/30/2012 by Chautauqua CCE - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Chautauqua, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 143 - 163 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Medium - 400 square feet to 1,600 square feet Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
Nice deep colors on both fruit and leaves. Excellent tasting and produced well in our garden.

Reviewed on 10/28/2012 by CCE Oneida County - An intermediate gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Oneida, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 163 - 183 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Medium - 400 square feet to 1,600 square feet Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
Nice deep color fruit and leaves. Good producer that required little care.

Reviewed on 10/24/2012 by Roots & Wisdom - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Schenectady, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 163 - 183 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Small - Less than 400 square feet (20' x 20') Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
Good flavor beet with lower yield

Reviewed on 10/22/2012 by nmeohen1 - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Cortland, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 103 - 123 days Soil Texture: Clay Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
The beets this year seemed to take forever with low yield.

Reviewed on 10/19/2012 by CCE Seneca County - An intermediate gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Seneca, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 163 - 183 days Soil Texture: Clay Garden Size: Small - Less than 400 square feet (20' x 20') Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
Very nice color. Good flavor and a prolific producer.

Reviewed on 10/02/2012 by LouLou - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Wayne, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 163 - 183 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Medium - 400 square feet to 1,600 square feet Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
Grew well. Pleasing color and taste. Held well without becoming woody.

Reviewed on 09/25/2012 by Debbie L - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Orange, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 143 - 163 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Small - Less than 400 square feet (20' x 20') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
Nice tasty beet. Even the foliage was good to eat. Easy to grow.

Reviewed on 06/19/2012 by oregonfarmboy - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Clackamas, Oregon, United States Frost Free Season: 143 - 163 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Medium - 400 square feet to 1,600 square feet Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
The beet is slower growing in Oregon. It is one of my favorite and grows well in the heat of Arizona. It is very tasty and is one that I would recommend for seed collection. When planting in a square foot gardening method you can get 300 per 4x8 box. We did this one year in Queen Creek Arizona and they were great. Be sure not to let them get to big as they get bitter when they get bigger in size. Great with butter and salt!!!

Reviewed on 12/28/2011 by gardengrover - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Alachua, Florida, United States Frost Free Season: More than 203 days Soil Texture: Sand Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
This is a great beet for tough conditions but the greens are not worth eating cooked and almost intolerable raw. As a home gardener I would plant at least 50% of another variety for greens and better flavor.

Reviewed on 02/05/2010 by Joseph L - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Cache, Utah, United States Frost Free Season: Fewer than 103 days Soil Texture: Clay Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
These have always been reliable and productive for me, both as greens and as roots. Their habit of sending out multiple sprouts from the same seed casing requires aggressive thinning to get large pretty beets. Without thinning I get a clump of small crowded misshaped beets. The thinnings make great greens.

Reviewed on 10/05/2009 by MarioC - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Sullivan, New Hampshire, United States Frost Free Season: 103 - 123 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
Easy for beginners and raised bed advocates. Dark red beet with classic soil undertones; metallic taste when eating the leaves. Good culinary bakers and boilers, but a bit harsh when eaten raw (grated in salads, etc.) Can be planted close in an intensive setting. Crop requires little added nutrients if soil is balanced. Good for fall crop as well.

Reviewed on 07/21/2009 by YorkerJenny - An intermediate gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Onondaga, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 123 - 143 days Soil Texture: Clay Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
Excellent taste and texture. This is my first year to grow beets. I read that it's difficult to grow them. So, I kind a built raised bed. My soil is sandy clay. After tilling, I put lots of peat moss, some lime and perlite. I put the seeds and plastic top of them. Because we get so much rain. Unfortunally after heavy rains plastic collapesed on the surface. Seeds' location changed. So many of them didn't sprout. Then I started more seeds and with some dry days, next batch grew better. They produced many big colorful leaves. But the beets were small. Not woody at all, again, excellent taste and texture. I'll try next year again and try to find a way to grow them bigger. Then my ratings for ease/reliability, yield and overall rating will change. I'm just writing this year because of its taste. 2010 update: I added big amount of wood ash and more peat moss to the soil. They grew big. I gave 2 stars to ease/realibility, because if you don't know or don't care how important the soil's ph, you get pretty much nothing. It needs extra work.

Reviewed on 11/16/2008 by OrganicDan - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Nova Scotia, Canada Frost Free Season: 123 - 143 days Soil Texture: Sand Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
My main variety. Great beet but not if greens your desire. Can be transplanted in thinning.

Reviewed on 04/26/2008 by starflakes - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Roberts, South Dakota, United States Frost Free Season: 103 - 123 days Soil Texture: Sand Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
This has been a beet we have raised for 80 years in my family and you always get something from them even in the worst of conditions. I have seen these get as big as softballs and still be of quality, but in most conditions of just leaving them on their own you get golf ball to tennis ball sizes for canning and making pickles to borsch. The juice even makes a potent wine that is quite good. Tops work for greens but have some tannin taste, but this is a splendid variety for the midwest.

Reviewed on 10/25/2007 by mrmcgregor - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Cortland, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 123 - 143 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Medium - 400 square feet to 1,600 square feet Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
It's hard to get excited about beets, but I've had consistent good results with this variety for the last 8 years. They're good fresh, but most go to my mother-in-law for pickling, and thats where they really shine. They're very easy to grow, only needing thinning and 2 or 3 weedings.

Reviewed on 11/22/2006 by scyther - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Dukes, Massachusetts, United States Frost Free Season: 183 - 203 days Soil Texture: Sand Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
I have had poor results with this variety as well as other 'red' type cultivars. Slow growth, poor yields and indifferent to poor flavor. This contrasted to Lutz, which has done well in yield and taste. As I am in a region with longer, hotter summers than most of the other reviewers, and minding the review from Ga, it may be that this variety does not stand heat well.

Reviewed on 11/15/2006 by dgsf - An intermediate gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	San Francisco, California, United States Frost Free Season: More than 203 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Small - Less than 400 square feet (20' x 20') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
Excellent results in cool SF Bay Area, even though my soil is not ideal for beets.

Reviewed on 10/25/2006 by farmerdill - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Richmond, Georgia, United States Frost Free Season: 183 - 203 days Soil Texture: Sand Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
This cultivar is in competition for my least favorite beet. It just does not do well in the south. Does not have much taste and gets woody fast.

Reviewed on 09/29/2006 by cools1120 - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Onondaga, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 183 - 203 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Medium - 400 square feet to 1,600 square feet Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
This is a fabulous beet for my part of the country. All seeds planted delivered. Practically grew itself since we were traveling most of the summer. It did not fail even with uneven watering. The taste is superb. I am planting a new crop tomorrow (9/30) to see how it will fare.

Reviewed on 08/08/2006 by UpstateJohn - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Monroe, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 143 - 163 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
This crop outshines the beet varieties in Upstate New York. Easy Keeper, good yield. Excellent Fresh, great pickler and freezer.

1 of 1 gardener found this review helpful.

Reviewed on 03/21/2006 by rj - A novice gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Monroe, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 163 - 183 days Soil Texture: Clay Garden Size: Medium - 400 square feet to 1,600 square feet Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
In New York this beet practically grows itself, I have had beets in several seasons that were larger than baseballs that I left for picking through the summer. I never had a tough beet of this variety yet.

1 of 1 gardener found this review helpful.

Reviewed on 01/19/2006 by MATERGIRL - An intermediate gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	York, Pennsylvania, United States Frost Free Season: 123 - 143 days Soil Texture: Clay Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
These deserve to be so popular. They grew easily, were not too hard to thin, grew to a very nice round size, and tasted juicy, sweet and were tender.

Reviewed on 10/21/2005 by Patrick Conner - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Georgia, United States Frost Free Season: 183 - 203 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Medium - 400 square feet to 1,600 square feet Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
Not nearly as good as the newer hybrid varieties. More difficult to germinate and much slower growing. I have found Red Ace to be much more vigorous, quicker to harvest, and more reliable.

Reviewed on 02/21/2005 by rick - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Franklin, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 123 - 143 days Soil Texture: Sand Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
This beet is number one with me. A very good seller.

Reviewed on 12/16/2004 by jomercer - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Maryland, United States Frost Free Season: 163 - 183 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Small - Less than 400 square feet (20' x 20') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
This is what a beet should look and taste like!

Reviewed on 11/09/2004 by russell - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Ontario, New York, United States Frost Free Season: 163 - 183 days Soil Texture: Loam Garden Size: Small - Less than 400 square feet (20' x 20') Sun Exposure: 6 to 8 hours per day
Great old time favorite, easy to grow, good yields,good dark red interior color. I like the flavor on this one.

Reviewed on 09/13/2004 by Catskills - An experienced gardener
Overall Taste Yield Ease	Ulster, New York, United States Frost Free Season: Fewer than 103 days Soil Texture: Not Sure Garden Size: Large - More than 1,600 square feet (40' x 40') Sun Exposure: More than 8 hours per day
Still the best tasting round red beet. DELISH! Update 12/10 Beets freeze just fine! Who knew? I boil and slip the skins then freeze whole, big chunks or slices. Trick is reheating. Put frozen beets in a saucepan with a little butter and NO water. Warm up slowly. I also add frozen beets to Indian food almost at the end -- makes Butter Chicken GORGEOUS.

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