Vegetable · Brassicaceae
Turnip
Brassica rapa subsp. rapa
Sown cool, watered even, and pulled young, the turnip brings roots and greens to the table in a single short season.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
41–77°F · 5–25°C
40–60 days
Overview
Turnips are a cool-season root in the brassica family, kin to cabbage and mustard, and they carry a certain unfussy, country-kitchen ease. Grown for generations for both the round root and the leafy tops, they suit a garden meant to feed a home rather than impress it. A sowing in spring or late summer delivers greens in about a month, with roots close behind, ready to fold into the everyday cooking that anchors a season.
By nature the turnip is a biennial, storing energy in the root one year and flowering the next, yet the garden almost never sees that second act. Grown as a quick annual and gathered long before it blooms, it fits the pace of ordinary meals. The roots hold their sweetness and their tender character when they size up in cool weather, which is why the heat of midsummer is the one interval to plan around. Set the sowings into the cooler shoulders of the year and the crop keeps its poise.
The whole affair turns on timing and a little thinning, both of them light work. Give turnips loose, evenly watered ground and the roots come up crisp and mild, at home in a simple roast or a winter mash. Let the soil dry and then drown, or leave the roots lingering in warm ground, and the reward slips toward woody, sharp-flavored roots instead of the clean, quiet flavor the season should bring.
Care
The short version: turnips want full sun and loose, rock-free soil, with about an inch of water a week to keep the moisture even. Sow direct in cool weather, thin the seedlings to give the roots their room, and gather them young, before heat or a hard frost, for the tenderest kitchen harvest.
Light
Turnips are at their best in full sun, though they accept a little partial shade. The greens keep their leafy fullness in some shade, while the roots size up faster and rounder under a long, even run of direct light.
Water
Offer about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water a week and keep it even, the kindest habit a turnip bed can have. That steady moisture is what holds the roots tender and mild, while a swing from dry to sudden soaking leaves them pithy, cracked, or harsh at the table.
Soil
Plant into loose, well-drained loam cleared of stones and free of fresh manure, both of which fork and scar the tender roots. A pH from 6.0 to 7.5 suits turnips well, and near-neutral ground also helps keep clubroot at bay.
Temperature
This is a cool-weather crop, most at ease between about 41°F to 77°F (5°C to 25°C). Roots that size up in real heat turn woody and sharp, so set the sowings in spring and fall and let the plants pass over the peak of summer.
Humidity
Ordinary outdoor air is all turnips ask, so there is no level to tend. Even soil moisture matters far more to the roots than anything happening in the air.
Feeding
Work a balanced granular feed such as 10-10-10 into the bed before sowing, guided by a soil test. Keep a light hand with nitrogen, since a surplus draws out lush tops at the expense of the roots the kitchen is waiting on.
Pruning
There is no pruning to keep. Thin the seedlings to 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) apart once they stand a few inches tall, and pick the outer greens at 4 to 6 inches, leaving the growing point so the tops keep coming.
Size & spacing
Plants reach about 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) tall and 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) across. Thin to 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) between plants, in rows 18 to 30 inches (45 to 75 cm) apart, so the roots find the room they need to swell.
When to plant
Turnips keep to the cool stretches of the year and quietly stall in the heat, so the calendar sets the tone. Sow the seed into the bed in early spring as soon as the ground can be worked, then sow again in late summer for a fall crop. Gather the roots young, ahead of summer heat or a hard freeze, and let a light fall frost do its quiet favor of sweetening them.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: direct sow in early spring as soon as soil can be worked (around mid-April in the Upper Midwest), and again in late summer (around August 1) for a fall crop
- Harvest: harvest roots at about 2-3 inches in diameter before hot weather or hard freezes; flavor sweetens after light fall frost; greens harvestable at 4-6 inches tall
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 2–9
Temperature: down to -46°C
Troubleshooting
Most turnip trouble settles in one of two places, on the leaves or down in the root, and the brassica pests reserve their worst for the tender young seedlings. Caught early, the fix is unhurried: a row cover or a small change in timing usually restores the season. Find the description below that matches the bed, and act while the plants are still small.
Seedlings drooping and falling, their roots bored through
When a seedling folds over with no story to tell, lift it and read the root for winding brown tunnels and small white legless grubs. That quiet culprit is the cabbage root maggot, larva of a fly that seeds its eggs along the soil line, while wireworms can leave a similar trail in ground newly turned from sod. Clear away and destroy the affected plants, re-sow beneath a row cover tucked snug at the edges, and stagger the sowing dates so the next planting slips past the season's peak egg-laying.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infested plants and roots
- Re-sow under floating row cover sealed at the edges
- Delay or stagger sowing to miss peak fly egg-laying
Pale, held-back plants above misshapen, knotted roots
Plants that hang back small, yellow at the leaf, and wilt through warm afternoons are signaling trouble below the surface. Lift one and the answer is often clubroot, a soilborne disease that warps the root into irregular club-like swellings in place of a clean round bulb. There is no reviving an infected plant, so remove it with the soil around it and keep it well clear of the compost. Then rest that bed from brassicas for several years and sweeten the ground toward neutral with lime before the family returns.
Fix:
- Remove and discard infected plants with surrounding soil (do not compost)
- Stop growing brassicas in that bed for several years
- Raise soil pH toward neutral with lime before replanting brassicas
Foliage marked by a fine spray of small perforations
A fine stipple of pinholes across the foliage is the mark of flea beetles, glossy black specks that scatter the moment a hand passes over the bed. They press hardest on spring and fall seedlings, the tender stage of the season. Lay a floating row cover over each new sowing, keep the watering even so the young plants stride past the damage, and tidy away the weedy mustards nearby that quietly harbor the beetles.
Fix:
- Cover new sowings with floating row cover at seeding
- Keep plants growing fast with steady water so they outgrow damage
- Remove nearby weedy mustards that host the beetles
Harvested roots proving coarse, corky, or bitingly sharp
Halve a root and the story shows in the flesh: spongy white pith and a stringy grain where crisp density belongs. The cause is heat and timing rather than any disease, since roots that swell in warm weather, linger past maturity, or weather a swing from drought to downpour all turn coarse and sharp on the palate. Gather what remains at 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) across, carry any tender tops to the kitchen as greens, and sow again in late summer so the next crop ripens into cool fall weather.
Fix:
- Harvest remaining roots promptly at 2-3 inches diameter
- Use affected roots' tops as cooking greens if still tender
- Re-sow in late summer so roots mature in cool fall weather
Toxicity
There is ease to be had here, since turnips are food and safe for people and pets alike. Both the root and the greens are eaten with no special handling, and the plant is not listed as toxic to cats or dogs. The single footnote is for grazing livestock, where weeks of heavy raw brassica forage can have a mild effect, which never enters the picture at garden scale.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
For a cat, turnip is entirely safe, and a taste of cooked root or a scrap of green passes without harm. Being meat lovers at heart, most cats drift right by it.
Dogs None
Turnip holds no toxin for dogs, and a little plain cooked root makes an easy now-and-then treat. Keep the helping modest, since a heap of any vegetable can unsettle the stomach.
Horses None
Both the root and the leaves are safe for horses. Cut larger roots into pieces so they pass down without any risk of choking.
Rabbits None
Rabbits take to the leafy tops and a little of the root with nothing to worry about. Bring the greens in gently, as you would any new fresh food.
Livestock None
Turnip roots and tops make wholesome forage and carry no poison. The single caveat sits with grazing, where weeks of heavy raw brassica greens can nudge thyroid function and bring a little bloating, a concern that never touches home-garden amounts.
Birds None
Chickens and other backyard birds take gladly to turnip greens and chopped root, and every bit is safe for them.
People None
At the table, turnip is a vegetable from root to leaf. Roast or mash the roots and cook the greens as you would any cooking green, with no part set aside.
No special handling needed. Like other brassicas, very large raw quantities can cause gas, and goitrogenic compounds in brassica forage are mainly a concern for livestock grazed heavily on it, not for household pets or people eating normal amounts.
Varieties
Turnips gather loosely into root types, greens types, and the quick salad turnips, each with its own place in the kitchen. These are the ones most gardens come to know.
Purple Top White Globe
The familiar heirloom most people picture, its round white roots blushing purple where they rise above the soil, matched by dependable greens.
Hakurei
A quick salad turnip whose small, smooth white roots come mild and sweet enough to slice raw into a salad.
Golden Ball
A yellow-fleshed heirloom that asks about 60 days and returns the patience with a mild, faintly sweet flavor.
Seven Top
Grown for a generous flush of greens rather than the root, which stays small and woody and is best left in the ground.
Just Right
A hybrid that offers greens in about 28 days and white roots in roughly 60, so a single sowing covers both.
Companions
Turnips do best next to cool-season plants that share their schedule without sharing their pests, and worst beside their own brassica cousins, which trade flea beetles, root maggots, and clubroot back and forth.
Plant near
peas: Cool-season legume sown on the same early-spring schedule; fixes nitrogen and does not compete heavily with the shallow turnip bed
onions: Alliums make compact, pest-light neighbors in the root bed and are not hosts for brassica pests
Keep apart
cabbage and other brassicas: Closely related cole crops share flea beetles, root maggots, and clubroot; clustering or rotating them in the same bed builds up these pests and diseases
How to propagate
Turnips settle in straight from seed sown where they will mature, since a move unsettles them, which makes them an easy and gracious crop to begin. A seed packet and a patch of loose soil are all it asks.
SeedEasy
Direct sow in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked, and again in late summer (around August 1) for a fall crop; turnips do not transplant well and succession sowings every 10 days extend harvest · Seedlings emerge in about 10 days; greens are cuttable in about 4 weeks and roots reach harvest size in roughly 40-60 days
Turnips take their place straight from seed sown where they will mature, since a move unsettles them. Set the seed a quarter to half an inch (0.5 to 1 cm) deep, an inch or two apart, in rows 18 to 30 inches (45 to 75 cm) apart, then thin the seedlings to 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) and carry the thinnings to the table as greens. Sprouts arrive in about 10 days, greens come ready to cut in roughly 4 weeks, and roots fill out in 40 to 60 days. A fresh row every 10 days keeps the kitchen supplied through the season.
Myths
The turnip and the rutabaga are a single vegetable wearing two names.
They are two separate crops. The turnip is Brassica rapa, with quick-growing roots that are usually white-fleshed, while the rutabaga is Brassica napus, its larger yellow-fleshed roots wanting a longer season and more room. Sow and space them as the different plants they are.
One touch of frost spoils any turnip still waiting in the soil.
A light fall frost does the graceful thing and sweetens the roots. Only a hard freeze truly harms roots left in the soil, so the timing to keep is harvesting ahead of a hard freeze, not ahead of the first light one.
Turnips are only a fall crop.
Turnips are a cool-season vegetable with two sowing windows, one in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked and another in late summer for a fall harvest. The one thing to sidestep is letting the roots size up in the heat of midsummer.