How to Grow Turnips

Would you like to grow turnips? In addition to the traditional kinds, I’ve also grown small sweet turnips. They are delicious!

Latin Name: Brassica rapa ssp. rapa
Plant Family: Brassica (Brassicaceae)
Cool-season crop

Did You Know?

Turnips have been cultivated for centuries, primarily for human consumption. Six hundred years ago, they were fed to livestock to fatten them up. They haven’t always gotten much respect, however. In Roman times, turnips were thrown at unpopular public figures. Many people felt eating turnips was beneath them and avoided them at all costs. Today, gardeners grow turnips as a nutritious root crop.

Plant Seeds or Seedlings? Direct-sow seeds in the garden.

When: In early spring as soon as the soil can be worked.

Days to Germination: 7 to 10 days

Depth to Sow: 1/2 inch

Spacing: Sow seeds 2 inches apart, and thin seedlings to a spacing of 4 to 6 inches once they are a few inches tall.

Days to Maturity: 45 to 50

Cultural Information:

Prepare seedbed, sow seeds and water in well. If aphids or cabbage worms are a problem in your area, immediately cover the bed with floating row cover or agricultural insect netting to create a physical barrier over the plants. Since the plants don’t require pollination, you can leave the cover on the bed for the entire season.

It is important to thin the seedlings once they are a few inches tall to a spacing of 4 to 6 inches in order to allow room for the developing bulbs. Water the planting consistently for the best growth potential. Weed the bed regularly, being careful to not damage turnip roots.

Susan’s Picks: Traditional turnips: ‘Golden Globe’, ‘Hakurei’, ‘Purple Top White Globe’. Japanese sweet turnips: ‘Silky Sweet’, ‘Mikado’.

Potential Insect Problems: aphids, cabbage worms, slugs, pillbugs, cabbage root maggots

When to Harvest:

The roots of traditional turnips are at their sweetest when young and become more spicy in hot weather. Harvest them when the roots are 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Harvest Japanese sweet turnips at any time and eat them fresh like an apple! They are delicious.

How to Cook & Preserve:

Steam or oven-roast traditional turnips, or cook and mash them before adding to mashed potatoes. Chopped turnips make a nice addition to soups and stews as well. You can also steam young turnip greens for a tasty side dish. Chop freshly-picked Japanese sweet turnips to add to salads and hors d’oeuvres.

Store roots in the vegetable drawer of a refrigerator or blanch them. Method: chop roots into chunk, boil for 2 minutes, plunge them into ice-cold water to cool down, then drain. At that point you can pack them into freezer bags and put in the freezer.

Back to Vegetable Grow Guide Chart

Copyright: Susan Mulvihill, Susan’s in the Garden, SusansintheGarden.com