At the end of summer, many gardeners notice the yellowing of beet leaf blades..
Some gardeners begin to panic in this situation..
They believe that the plant needs to be saved urgently.
However, our magazine’s expert, agronomist and landscape designer Anastasia Kovrizhnykh is in a hurry to reassure such gardeners: most likely, there is no need to take action.
The fact is that yellowing of beet tops in August is an absolutely normal phenomenon.
Why do beet leaves turn yellow at the end of summer
In most cases, this is just a sign of aging of the leaf blades of a popular garden crop.
The process is completely natural.
Thus, there is no need to perform any ‘rescue’ procedures.
Other possible reasons for yellowing of leaves
However, you can’t relax completely. It is possible that the problem is not related to age-related changes.
Perhaps the plant has encountered some kind of illness. For example, cercospora.
The garden crop is really sick if the leaves not only start to turn yellow, but also become covered with spots and dry out at the edges.
In such a situation, you still need to save the beets. But it is quite simple: you just need to use fungicides.
Also remember if you are watering too often. The latter should be moderate. Over-moistening the soil in the beet bed is fraught with deterioration of the plant’s condition.
And in the second half of August, the moisture deficit should be replenished only after the soil has become completely dry.
Perhaps the yellowing of the tops is also associated with a lack of nitrogen. But this point is worth paying attention to, rather, in the first half of summer. In August, nitrogen fertilizers can harm beets.
