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Plant your fall turnip greens from late August to October; for a spring crop, plant 2 to 4 weeks before the last frost. Space these easy-to-grow greens 6 inches apart in fertile, well-drained soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.8.
What is the best time to plant turnips?
Planting. Plant turnips and mustards as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. The seeds will sprout if the soil temperature is 40 degrees F or higher. For a fall crop, start planting 8 to 10 weeks before the first expected frost.
What can I plant with turnips?
Turnips Are Terrific Companions Squash, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, beans, onions, garlic, lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, cauliflower, and radishes all flourish when planted interspersed with turnips. Turnips are “best buddies” with nitrogen-fixing peas.
How cold hardy are turnips?
Colder temperatures (26-31 degrees F.) may burn foliage but will not kill broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, mustard, onion, radish, and turnip. The real cold weather champs are beets, Brussels sprouts, carrots, collards, kale, parsley, and spinach.
How long does it take turnips to grow from seed?
Turnips are ready to harvest 40 to 55 days after planting. If harvesting the leaves, they are ready when they reach 4-6 inches in height. If only harvesting the leaves, cut them from the plant when they reach the desired size, leaving 1 inch of leaves above the crown of the plant. More leaves will grow in their place.
Will turnips grow in hot weather?
Turnips will grow in spring or fall weather; they do not like hot summer months. Note that an autumn crop, seeded in late summer, is usually sweeter and more tender than a spring crop—and pests are less of a problem.
Are turnips hard to grow?
Growing and maintaining turnips is pretty easy. They are fast growing, reliable, and relatively low maintenance. It is not necessary to fertilize plants once they are in the ground since they grow so quickly. As long as the soil is rich in organic material when you sow the seeds, they should be happy.
What is the best fertilizer for turnips?
To get the biggest, tastiest turnips in your home garden, amend your soil with nutrient-rich fertilizer before and after planting. Spread 2 to 4 inches of composted organic matter over 100 square feet of soil. Apply 2 to 4 cups of all-purpose fertilizer, such as 10-10-10, 10-20-10 or 16-16-8, per 100 square feet.
At what temperature do turnips germinate?
Once seedlings grow to a couple of inches tall, thin the plants to one every 4 to 6 inches to allow them to grow to their full potential. Turnips seeds can germinate in soil that is as cool as 40°F, but the optimal soil temperature for turnip germination is between 60° and 105°.
Can you plant turnips in July?
Planting and Care Turnips take about two months to ripen, so time your planting according to your desired harvest time. For example, turnips planted in May ripen in July, and an August planting ripens in October.
How deep should I plant my turnips?
Plant seeds about 1/2 inch deep. When the plants are 3 to 4 inches tall, thin them to 2 to 4 inches apart. You can use the thinned out plants as edible greens. For a prolonged harvest, succession plant every 10 to 14 days.
Can I plant turnips next to cucumbers?
Root vegetables. This means that cucumbers won’t interfere with the growing of root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, radishes, and turnips if you plant them nearby since root vegetables grow primarily beneath the soil and will make use of space that the cucumbers don’t need.
Can turnips handle frost?
Root crops like carrots, turnips, beets, rutabagas and parsnips can remain in the garden after a frost and still be removed in good condition later, but get them dug and stored before the ground freezes.
How long can I leave turnips in the ground?
They do rot after one week, so if you lose track of them after putting them in the ground, those Bells will be wasted and your storage efforts will be for nothing. Like we suggested to do inside the house, you may as well design parts of your island around turnips if you plan on keeping a lot of them.
Will turnips continue to grow after frost?
Semi-hardy vegetables are those which can survive repeated light frosts in the 30–32˚F range. These vegetables include cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, kale, leeks, rutabagas and turnips. Upon thawing out, these hardy vegetables will continue to grow between freezes.
Should you soak turnip seeds before planting?
Still, I like to mix in standard application of a balanced organic fertilizer, watered in well, before planting turnip seeds. Additionally, deeply soaking the prepared bed helps encourage strong germination. In beds or rows, the only trick to getting turnip seeds to germinate is to keep them moist for about three days.
Is it too late to plant turnips?
Soil, Planting, and Care Set out turnip green plants 2 to 4 weeks before the last frost in spring and from late August to October for a fall crop in most areas. In zones 9 and 10 they can be planted throughout fall and winter.
Why are my turnips all tops?
Too Much Nitrogen: Soil too rich in nitrogen tends to give turnips with an abundance of foliage, but an underdeveloped root. This could have happened if you applied a very nitrogen-rich fertilizer or a heavy application of fresh manure or compost.
