Rutabaga / Swedish turnip

Plant family

Crucifers (Brassicaceae)

Also known as

Neep

Cultivation Break

Season Overview

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Moist

Soil

Medium (loamy)

Nutrient requirement

Medium

Dark germinator

Germination temperature

12 - 18 °C (Degrees Celsius)

Plant distance

40 cm

Row spacing

40 cm

Seeding depth

1.5 cm

Instructions

Beginning of April

Sowing

Beginning of April

Fertilizing

Every two Weeks

Mid of April

Thinning

End of April

Weeding

Every two Weeks

End of April

Cover

Description

Turnip is a subspecies of rapeseed. It is to be distinguished from the turnip and is considered a typical winter vegetable.

Growing tips

The best time for direct sowing is mid-May to July, after which the turnips will not reach their full size until autumn. The seeds should not be sown too deep, 1 cm sowing depth is ideal. The turnip needs a row spacing of 30-40 cm, within the rows they grow best with a distance of 40 cm from the next plant. When the seedlings have formed the first leaves, you can separate them. Turnip is relatively uncomplicated in its care and does not require any special care. Keep the soil around the turnips nice and loose and moist so that ground fleas don't make themselves comfortable and eat the leaves. Also, a loosened soil encourages the formation of nice beet bodies. Otherwise, it behaves as with cabbage: against cabbage white butterfly, earth fleas and whiteflies helps to cover with a culture protection net. The beets can be harvested into November. Smaller turnips (about 10 -15 cm in diameter) have a more intense flavor; large turnips may tend to be woody, especially if grown under drought and heat. Turnips tolerate short-term frosts well, but should be harvested before prolonged frosts. To harvest, you can simply pull the beets out of the ground by hand if the soil is loose; if the soil is firmer, you can use a digging fork to help loosen the soil a bit beforehand.