BBCH-scale (beet)

In biology, the BBCH-scale for beet describes the phenological development of beet plants using the BBCH-scale.

The phenological growth stages and BBCH-identification keys of beet are:

Growth stage	Code	Description
0: Germination	00	Dry seed
	01	Beginning of imbibition: seeds begins to take up water
	03	Seed imbibition complete (pellet cracked)
	05	Radicle emerged from seed (pellet)
	07	Shoot emerged from seed (pellet)
	09	Emergence: shoot emerges through soil surface
1: Leaf development (youth stage)	10	First leaf visible (pinhead-size): cotyledons horizontally unfolded
	11	First pair of leaves visible, not yet unfolded (pea-size)
	12	2 leaves (first pair of leaves) unfolded
	14	4 leaves (2nd pair of leaves) unfolded
	15	5 leaves unfolded
	1 .	Stages continuous till ...
	19	9 and more leaves unfolded
3: Rosette growth (crop cover)	31	Beginning of crop cover: leaves cover 10% of ground
	32	Leaves cover 20% of ground
	33	Leaves cover 30% of ground
	34	Leaves cover 40% of ground
	35	Leaves cover 50% of ground
	36	Leaves cover 60% of ground
	37	Leaves cover 70% of ground
	38	Leaves cover 80% of ground
	39	Crop cover complete: leaves cover 90% of ground
4: Development of harvestable vegetative plant parts Beet root	49	Beet root has reached harvestable size
5: Inflorescence emergence (2nd year of growth)	51	Beginning of elongation of main stem
	52	Main stem 20 cm long
	53	Side shoot buds visible on main stem
	54	Side shoots clearly visible on main stem
	55	First individual flower buds on side shoots visible
	59	First bracts visible; flower buds still closed
6: Flowering	60	First flowers open
	61	Beginning of flowering: 10% of flowers open
	62	20% of flowers open
	63	30% of flowers open
	64	40% of flowers open
	65	Full flowering: 50% of flowers open
	67	Flowering declining: 70% of flowers open or dry
	69	End of flowering: all flowers dry, fruit set visible
7: Development of fruit	71	Beginning of seed development: seeds visible in infructescence
	75	Pericarp green; fruit still mouldable; perisperm milky; colour of seed coat: beige
8: Ripening	81	Beginning of ripening: pericarp green-brown, seed coat light brown
	85	Pericarp light brown, seed coat reddish brown
	87	Pericarp hard, seed coat dark brown
	89	Fully ripe: seed coat final colour (specific to variety and species), perisperm hard
9: Senescence	91	Beginning of leaf discolouration
	93	Most leaves yellowish
	95	50% of leaves brownish
	97	Leaves dead
	99	Harvested product (seeds)

References

• Meier, U.; L. Bachmann; H. Buhtz; H. Hack; R. Klose; B. Marlander; E. Weber (1993). "Phänologische Entwick-lungsstadien der Beta-Rüben (Beta vulgaris L. ssp.). Codierung und Beschreibung nach der erweiterten BBCH-Skala (mit Abbildungen)". Nachrichtenbl. Deut. Pflanzenschutzd. 45: 37–41.