How to Grow Turnips, Planting Turnips at Home, Growing Turnips in Your Garden

How to grow turnips in your backyard vegetable garden.

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Get our best easy tips for how to plant, grow, harvest, and control turnip pests in the garden.

One of the first steps of discovering how to grow turnips is finding out when is the best time to plant for your region.

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When to Plant Turnips

Turnips can be planted in spring and fall and do remarkably well in both seasons.

The plants generally mature in 2 months.

Springtime does seem to be preferred in Northern gardens, but make the spring planting as early as possible.

On the other hand, not too early since too much exposure to 40 degree temperatures will cause bolting.

In warmer climate zones, fall and winter are excellent seasons because the ripening period comes at the cool end of the season.

Growing Turnips in Your Garden

Best Turnip Varieties

To grow greens, ‘Seven Top' is suggested for planting in late fall and early spring.

You can pull and cook these whole.

Alternatively, leave the plants for several harvests of the younger leaves.

‘Shogoin' is also a variety primarily grown for greens.

It matures in 30 days and will grow in hot weather better than other varieties.

'Royal Crown' and ‘Tokyo Top Hybrid' are recommended varieties for foliage and roots.

How to Grow Turnips

The general soil and nutrient requirements are about the same as for beets, which is well-drained, enriched soil containing compost.

The only difference being that turnips require slightly less nitrogen than beets.

Avoid letting the turnip bed dry out.

Planting Turnips from Seeds

Tips on How to Grow Turnips

Turnip Plant Pests

If your turnips were beginning to grow but then suddenly appeared to be nibbled off near the ground, a population of cutworms could be the problem.

These pests live in the soil during the day and feast on tender seedlings by night.

Large sections of a row or most of the crop can be wiped out by these larval stage moths.

Cutworm Control

Check closely within the row where the plants are grown.

If small holes are present, dig into the soil where the insects are hiding and destroy the pests.

If the insects cannot be found or if the population is too large, an insecticide may be needed.

A biological control containing Bacillus thuringiensis may be of help when sprayed on young plants.

Harvesting Turnips

Ideas for Serving Turnips from Your Garden

The best part of putting our how to grow turnips tips to good use is to try our tasty serving ideas.

Boiled turnip greens are popular in the Southern U.S., China, and Japan.

The root is good sliced and served on a relish tray with dips.

You can slice, boil the roots, and serve topped with butter.

Another idea is to boil, mash, and season with dill weed or basil.

Add it to soufflés or delicious homemade stews.

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How to Grow Turnips to Planting a Vegetable Garden

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