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["Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

I don't think you can get a very reliable answer without diagnostics.  Cornell doesn't charge that much, under $20 for the basic soil analysis and about $5 for a supplementary boron test.  Not a lot of discretionary expense in context to the amount of time most of us devote to our soil.  If your beets are less than robust and healthy looking who knows how much your soil is affecting the efficiency of your labor?

 

You do bring an interesting point about the danger of boron excess.  So many comments have been made about this but nothing specifically quantitative about the presumably thin line between adequate and excessive.  I have never been that precise with my Boron applications- but I do error on the side of caution.  This discussion is inspiring me to spend the extra money when I do tests on sites I manage even though I have no evidence that Boron has been an issue in the orchards I manage.   

 

Factors that affect the success of home orchards tend to be much more obvious- things like poor drainage, inadequate sun exposure, soil competition from nearby forest trees or weeds and of course predation of wildlife.  A decent soil usually has the mineral necessities to produce more than adequate harvests for non-commercial production here in the southeastern NY area.  A little lime, a little N and some mulch and your good to go.  Well, maybe more than a little lime.