Growing Turnips.

Latest Update 2nd April 2020

Turnip

• Turnips are best harvested young (50mm to 75mm in diameter), when the roots are at their most tender and the foliage can be used as a leafy green vegetable.
• I like to steam or roast the young turnip roots, but I leave some to mature for use in soups and casseroles.
• Organically grown turnips are full of flavour and very nutritious.
• I grow 4 succession crops during the year a row of 10 at a time.
• They are harvested progressively as they grow and only when required in the kitchen.  Surpluses can be diced, blanched and frozen for later use.
• In my garden, turnips are rarely affected by pests or diseases. 

Details 

• Variety:                                                    Purple Top White Globe.
• Trinomial name:                                        Brassica rapa var. rapa
• Family group:                                           Brassiaceae.
• Crop rotation group:                                  Heavy feeders.
• Garden bed type:                                      Garden Ecobed.
• Minimum sun per day:                               6 hours.
• Plant spacings (centres x rows):                150 x 150 mm.
• Weeks to harvest:                                     8 weeks.
• Good companions:                                    Peas, nasturtiums.
• Climate:                                                     Warm temperate.
• Geography:                                              Southern hemisphere.

Nutrition.

• This food is very low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
• It is a good source of vitamin B6, folate, calcium, potassium and copper; and is a very good source of dietary fibre, vitamin C and manganese.
• More from nutrition data.self.com.

Maintain Healthy Plants

• This blogpage explains how I maintain healthy plants.  It describes how soil is prepared prior to planting, how to regulate the sun's intensity and how to help protect and feed plants through their leaves.

Propagate Plants Efficiently

• This blogpage explains how I propagate seeds in a purpose built propagator.

Propagation Plan 2020.

• This blogpage tells you when to sow seeds.

Services Plan 2020.

• This blogpage tells you when to make compost and plan other garden/household related activities.

Growing Instructions.

• Sow 10 turnip seeds in finely sieved compost in a minipot.  Soak the pot in a tray containing 15mm of dilute seaweed extract for about 15 minutes.
• Sink the minipot up to its rim next in the wicking media in an EcoPropagator.
• Transplant the seedlings individually in small fibre pots and return them to the EcoPropagator when they reach the 4th leaf stage of their growth.
• Plant them in the prepared soil in a single row of an Ecobed using a large dibber driven through the compost and mulch cover into the soil.  Water them in well with captured rainwater.
• Apply straw mulch on any exposed soil as soon as the turnips are established.

Harvesting and Storage.

• Turnips can be harvested from May till August, and their leaves can be harvested at the same time as their roots.
• Surpluses can be peeled, diced and blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes.  After cooling in cold water and dried, they are packed in bags and stored in a freezer for later use.

Organic Pest Control.

• Turnips, like most vegetables, are vulnerable to attack from certain pests in my garden.  My blog "Controlling Garden Pests" explains a little about these pests and what to do to protect plants from them.  For details click on the appropriate link below.

• Slugs and snails.
• Greenhouse whitefly. 
• Cabbage white butterfly caterpillars.
• Aphids (greenfly).
• Root knot nematodes.