Empty bed
What to plant after beetroot
The short answer
After beetroot in August: turnips, kohlrabi, pak choi, spinach, chard, lettuce and autumn kale if your frost allows; spring cabbage, winter lettuce or overwintering onions to stand through winter; or a green manure. In October: garlic, overwintering crops, or broad beans in a mild spot.
Beetroot comes out any time from midsummer into autumn, so what can follow depends mostly on when you lift it.
Beetroot lifted in August
What Vercro's catalogue has in its sowing window when the bed clears in mid August, checked against beetroot with the same code as the Vercro app. No frost date is applied here; “ready about” counts the catalogue's growing time from mid August.
| Window | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beetroot in the bedApril to August | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: no | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Then radishAugust to September | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: no | May: no | June: no | July: no | August: yes | September: yes | October: no | November: no | December: no |
| Or winter lettuceAugust to November | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: no | May: no | June: no | July: no | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: yes | December: no |
Quick crops (2)
Ready in about eight weeks or less.
- RadishSow outside. Ready about September.
- RocketSow outside. Ready about September.
Need longer (18)
Worth it only if your first frost is late enough. The tool below checks that for your area.
- MizunaSow outside. Ready about September to October.
- Oriental MustardSow outside. Ready about September to October.
- Pak Choi (Autumn)Sow outside. Ready about September to October.
- Rocket (Winter)Sow outside. Ready about September to October.
- SpinachSow outside. Ready about September to October.
- Spinach (Autumn)Sow outside. Ready about September to October.
- LettuceSow outside. Ready about September to October.
- Pak choiSow outside. Ready about September to October.
- ChardSow outside. Ready about October.
- Kohlrabi (Autumn)Sow outside. Ready about October.
- KohlrabiSow outside. Ready about October.
- TurnipSow outside. Ready about October.
- Chinese CabbageSow outside. Ready about October to November.
- Lamb's LettuceSow outside. Ready about October to November.
- Perpetual SpinachSow outside. Ready about October to November.
- Spring OnionSow outside. Ready about October.
- Turnip (Autumn)Sow outside. Ready about October to November.
- Kale (Autumn)Raise indoors, then plant. Ready about December to January.
Stand through winter (3)
Not racing this year's frost: they stand over winter and crop next year.
- Winter LettuceRaise indoors, then plant. Ready about October to November.
- Spring cabbageSow. Ready about March to April.
- Overwintering OnionsSow outside. Ready about May to June.
Green manures (3)
To cover and feed the soil rather than to eat.
- Green ManureSow outside. Ready about September to October.
- Mustard (Green Manure)Sow outside. Ready about September to October.
- Phacelia (Green Manure)Sow outside. Ready about September to October.
Nothing in its window this month is flagged to wait because of beetroot.
Beetroot lifted in October
What Vercro's catalogue has in its sowing window when the bed clears in mid October, checked against beetroot with the same code as the Vercro app. No frost date is applied here; “ready about” counts the catalogue's growing time from mid October.
In October the list is short: only a few quick salads, crops that overwinter, and broad beans for mild, sheltered gardens.
| Window | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beetroot in the bedApril to October | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: no | December: no |
| Then rocketOctober to November | January: no | February: no | March: no | April: no | May: no | June: no | July: no | August: no | September: no | October: yes | November: yes | December: no |
| Or winter spinachOctober to January | January: yes | February: no | March: no | April: no | May: no | June: no | July: no | August: no | September: no | October: yes | November: yes | December: yes |
Quick crops (1)
Ready in about eight weeks or less.
- RocketSow outside. Ready about November.
Need longer (2)
Worth it only if your first frost is late enough. The tool below checks that for your area.
- Oriental MustardSow outside. Ready about November to December.
- Lamb's LettuceSow outside. Ready about December to January.
Stand through winter (4)
Not racing this year's frost: they stand over winter and crop next year.
- Winter SpinachSow outside. Ready about December to January.
- Broad Bean (Autumn)Sow outside. Ready about April to June.
- Overwintering PeasRaise indoors, then plant. Ready about April to May.
- GarlicSow outside. Ready about June to July.
Nothing in its window this month is flagged to wait because of beetroot.
Why the family matters
Beetroot is in the beet and chard family with chard and spinach, not the carrot family, even though the RHS rotation plan puts it in the “roots” group. Vercro raises no rotation warning for this family.
One thing does cross families: AHDB notes that violet root rot is most often seen after carrots or beet, and its sclerotia can survive several years in soil. It affects potatoes too, so it cuts across the usual rotation groups.
Worth knowing about beetroot beds
"Roots" is not a family
Beetroot, carrots, parsnips, turnips and swede are three different families. See plant families.Late lifting leaves less choice
An October bed is mostly for overwintering crops and green manures.Violet root rot
If your beetroot or carrots showed purple mould on the roots, keep root crops and potatoes away from that bed for a while (AHDB).Chard and spinach
Same family as beetroot. Vercro doesn’t warn; variety is your choice.
Check it for your bed and your frost date
Pick when it came out and add your usual first frost (or your postcode). The tool opens with your answer.
How Vercro handles this in a real garden
When a beetroot planting ends in Vercro, the Garden plan lists what could go in next, checked against your frost date. It files beetroot by its botanical family, not as a root, so its checks are about the right relatives.
What this page can't tell you
The honest limits
Sowing months are a national calendar, not your garden's. We can't see your soil, how much room is left, or what else is still growing in the bed. The rotation check looks only at beetroot; your bed's earlier history matters too.
Keep going
Where this comes from
Crop windows, growing times and plant families come from Vercro's own curated crop catalogue, the same data the Vercro app uses. Where a published source says something different, we show both rather than choosing the convenient one. Reviewed 19 September 2026.
- Crop rotation, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Violet root rot, AHDB. Read 19 September 2026.
- Chard: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
Let each empty bed tell you what could go in
In the Vercro Garden plan, a bed that has come free shows what could go there next, using your location's frost date and what that bed has grown before.