Can you sow beetroot indoors, then transplant it

I used to work in South Africa many years ago. In shops there, it is very common to find seedlings being sold of all the brassica crops, but also beetroot seedlings.

I bought some cabbages, cauliflower and beetroot seedlings, took them home and popped them in the garden. All did very well, even the beetroot.

In this country, it seems frowned upon to even consider sowing root crops indoors. Why is this ?

 

Dunno why they would say that about beetroot, I sow them in a seed tray, prick out to 9CM pots and then plant out. Same for Celeriac and Kohl Rabi ...

.. however "long" roots like Carrots and Parsnips fork if the tap root is damaged, so transplanting them is unreliable. I grow Parsnips in pots made from rolling a sheet of newspaper around an aerosol can, this gives me a very deep pot (5" or so) and it is planted whole, so no root disturbance.

 

I'd just say you need to time it right, if you sow too early they get rootbound and then a lot will bolt once planted out.
Get it right and it works.