How to grow Turnip

Brassica rapa · white turnip

A fast-growing root vegetable with edible roots and greens, sown directly where it is to grow. It grows best in cool weather (10–18 °C) and takes light frosts.

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Brassicaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6–7.5
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for sowing	from 5 °C
Germination	8 days
Sowing to harvest	50 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

It tolerates light frost: sow straight into the bed about three weeks before your last spring frost.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

The first harvest comes about 50 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 2 days	10…18 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	10…18 °C	nitrogen, 21 days into the stage; nitrogen, 42 days into the stage
Harvest	every 3 days	10…18 °C	—

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 2 days	10…18 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	10…18 °C	nitrogen, 21 days into the stage; nitrogen, 42 days into the stage
Harvest	every 3 days	10…18 °C	—

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 2 days	15…22 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	15…22 °C	nitrogen, 21 days into the stage; nitrogen, 42 days into the stage
Harvest	every 3 days	15…22 °C	—

Growing notes

Light

Needs a sunny spot.

Soil

Rich, loose, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter and few stones, pH 6–7.5.

Care

Sow 1 cm deep and thin the seedlings early to 8–15 cm apart. Give 25 mm of water a week in dry weather, or the roots turn woody or bitter and may split. Side-dress with a little nitrogen fertiliser about 3 weeks after the seedlings come up and again 3 weeks later. Pull the roots at 5–8 cm across; flea beetles and cabbage root fly are the usual pests.

Pests and diseases of Turnip

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.