Crimson Globe
A popular main-crop open-pollinated variety with globe-shaped, smooth, medium-large roots of deep crimson flesh and a sweet, mild flavour — similar in use to Detroit Dark Red, sometimes a little quicker.
Quick facts
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- ~55–60 days (TNAU)
- Seed rate
- 6–9 kg/ha sown in lines (about 2.5–3.5 kg/acre)
- Expected yield
- Best plot 31.7 t/ha marketable in a Gujarat trial (30 October sowing, 30 x 15 cm)
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No special resistance claimed
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Crimson Globe is an open-pollinated beetroot that TNAU names among the popular varieties. NHB describes globular to flattened, medium red roots with small shoulders and medium dark crimson-red flesh with only indistinct zoning at the top, and calls it a high-yielding cultivar. The leaves are bright green with a maroon shade. TNAU's lecture note gives 55 to 60 days, while a Gujarat trial began harvesting it at 65 days. The flavour is sweet and mild. It suits a farmer who wants a quick main crop for the fresh or processing market and does not want pale rings in the root.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Crimson Globe if you want a quick main-crop beet whose flesh stays free of pale rings. TNAU's lecture note gives it 55 to 60 days, against 80 to 100 days for Detroit Dark Red, and NHB describes its zoning as indistinct, against light red zoning for Detroit Dark Red. In a Gujarat trial at Sardarkrushinagar it gave more gross yield than Detroit Dark Red, and the best marketable plot in the whole trial, 31.74 t/ha, was Crimson Globe sown on 30 October at 30 x 15 cm. The roots are globular to flattened, so they will not look as perfectly round as Detroit Dark Red. Do not choose it if your buyer wants the classic round shape.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeSeptember to November in the northern plains; October to December further south
- Seed rate6–9 kg/ha sown in lines (about 2.5–3.5 kg/acre)
- SpacingRows 30–45 cm apart; thin to 8–12 cm between plants
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Ready in 55 to 60 days, about a month before Detroit Dark Red (TNAU).
- Crimson flesh with only indistinct zoning (NHB), and a sweet, mild flavour.
- More gross yield than Detroit Dark Red in a Gujarat trial.
Things to consider
- No special disease resistance claimed
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Uttar Pradesh
- Punjab
- Haryana
- Bihar
A fair test: Crimson Globe next to Detroit Dark Red on your own bed
TNAU's lecture note gives 55 to 60 days for Crimson Globe against 80 to 100 for Detroit Dark Red. One Gujarat trial at Sardarkrushinagar did put the two side by side, over three sowing dates and three spacings. Crimson Globe gave more gross yield, and the best marketable plot overall was Crimson Globe at 31.74 t/ha. It was one site and one season, so your soil can still change the answer.
You can settle it in one season. Pick a level strip of one bed. Sow 4 rows of each variety, side by side, on the same day, with the same seed rate, the same ridges 30 cm apart, and the same water and feed. Tie a coloured string at the start of each variety's rows so nobody mixes them up at harvest.
At harvest pull 20 plants from the middle of each variety. Weigh them, note how many are bigger than your buyer's smallest size, and cut five roots in half to look for pale rings. Write the days from sowing to the day you lifted. Then choose the one with the better weight of sellable roots, not the better looking one. Keep the notes for next year.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Beetroot (Chukandar) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crimson Globethis page | Farmers who want a quick main-crop beet with crimson flesh and no ring-zoning | ~55–60 days (TNAU) | Best plot 31.7 t/ha marketable in a Gujarat trial (30 October sowing, 30 x 15 cm) | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar |
| Crosby Egyptian | Farmers who need a very quick beet to fill a gap between crops or to start a staggered sowing | ~55–60 days (TNAU) | No variety figure published (25–30 t/ha is the general beetroot figure) | Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana |
| Detroit Dark Red | Farmers who want one safe, widely available main-crop beetroot with deep red flesh | ~80–100 days (TNAU) | 25–30 t/ha | Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana |
| Early Wonder | Farmers near a city who can sell roots tied with their tops as a bunching beet | ~55–60 days | No variety figure published (25–30 t/ha is the general beetroot figure) | Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi |
| MSH-102 (hybrid types) | Larger commercial and processing farmers who need very uniform, high-yielding roots and will buy fresh seed every season | ~80–95 days | 30–40 t/ha | Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab |
| Ooty 1 | Hill farmers in the Nilgiris and similar cool areas of Tamil Nadu who want a beet bred for their weather | ~120 days (TNAU) | ~28 t/ha (TNAU) | Tamil Nadu |
| Ruby Queen | Farmers who sell small, tender, sweet beets to the young-beet and salad trade | ~55–65 days | No variety figure published (25–30 t/ha is the general beetroot figure) | Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Beetroot (Chukandar) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Beetroot (Chukandar) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Beetroot (Chukandar) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Beetroot (Chukandar) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Beetroot (Chukandar) in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Beetroot (Chukandar) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Beetroot (Chukandar) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Crimson Globe really faster than Detroit Dark Red?
On TNAU's lecture note, yes, by a wide margin: 55 to 60 days against 80 to 100. In the Sardarkrushinagar trial in Gujarat, Crimson Globe harvests began at 65 days and Detroit Dark Red harvests at 90 days. Crimson Globe gave significantly more gross yield. Marketable yield did not differ significantly between the two, because they were harvested at different times. NHB says Crimson Globe's flesh shows only indistinct zoning, while Detroit Dark Red shows light red zoning. Sow both in neighbouring rows on the same day, weigh 20 roots from each at harvest, and decide from your own numbers.
When should I sow Crimson Globe?
TNAU calls beetroot a cool-weather crop and gives July and August for Tamil Nadu. Its lecture note gives September to November for the plains and March to April for the hills. NHB says 18 to 21 degrees C is ideal and bolting starts below 10 degrees C. In the Gujarat trial, 30 October sowing gave the best marketable yield (19.30 t/ha mean), 15 November next (17.30) and 15 October the lowest (15.56). In every case sow when the heat has eased, because high temperature causes zoning. A crop of 55 to 60 days sown on 15 October is ready between about 9 and 14 December.
How should I irrigate beetroot, and can I use drip?
TNAU says to irrigate heavily straight after sowing and then as needed. For drip it gives raised beds 120 cm wide, 30 cm apart, with the lateral in the centre of each bed. Drippers are 4 litres an hour at 60 cm or 3.5 litres an hour at 50 cm, and plants go four rows to a bed at 30 x 30 x 10 cm. Drip pays back only if you also use it for fertigation.
What spacing did the Gujarat trial favour?
At Sardarkrushinagar, spacing 30 x 15 cm gave the best marketable yield, a mean of 28.18 t/ha. Spacing 15 x 15 cm gave the highest gross yield, a mean of 35.81 t/ha, but much of it was not marketable. Spacing 30 x 30 cm gave the lowest. The best plot of all, Crimson Globe sown on 30 October at 30 x 15 cm, gave 31.74 t/ha marketable and a benefit-cost ratio of 6.23. 30 x 15 cm is about 222,000 plants a hectare. The soil was loamy sand with pH 7.8, so check how your own soil compares.
Sourced from: Beet root (Beta vulgaris) — TNAU Agritech Portal, Horticulture, Beet root: origin, varieties, package of practices — TNAU eAgri HORT 281, Lecture 30, Beet: varieties, soil and climate — National Horticulture Board (NHB), Patel et al., Production and profitability of beetroot cultivars to date of planting and spacing, north Gujarat, Int. J. Chemical Studies 5(5), 2017. editorial policy.