Purple Top Turnip Planting Instructions

Purple top turnips produce smooth root globes good for cooking or eating raw.

Turnip greens are a staple in many Southern gardens, but the root and greens are grown in many other areas of the United States, too. Purple-top turnip is grown primarily for the quality of the root for cooking and for eating raw in salads and slaw, but the greens are also flavorful. Purple-top turnip plants mature in about two months and need full sun and well-drained soil to thrive. The plant can also grow in a window box.

Things You'll Need

• Soil test kit
• Spade or hoe
• Rake
• Lime
• Compost or organic matter
• Fertilizer
• Mulch

Instructions

1. Use the soil test kit to determine whether the soil pH is at 6.0. Add soil amendments as needed to raise or lower the pH level. Add lime to acid soils to bring the pH to 6.0.

2. Dig up the planting bed with the spade or hoe, breaking up the soil to a depth of 10 to 12 inches. Sift through the soil with your hoe or fingers and remove rocks and other debris. Break up dirt clods.

3. Mix compost or other organic material into the soil using the spade or hoe and ensure the top layer of the planting bed is soil to hasten the absorption of nutrients from the organic material as it breaks down in the soil. Rake the area smooth.

4. Broadcast the turnip seeds over the prepared bed and rake lightly until the seeds are covered by 1/2 inch of soil, or plant by hand 4 inches apart in rows 1 to 2 feet apart.

5. Fertilize the turnip bed when the plants are about 4 inches tall. Texas A&M recommends applying 1/2 cup of fertilizer for each 10 feet of row, mixing it lightly into the soil around, not on, the plants. Water thoroughly.

6. Water weekly to a depth of 1 inch except in periods of heavy rainfall.

7. Once the plants are established, spread mulch thickly around the base of each plant to retain moisture.

Tips & Warnings

• Plant purple-top turnips as soon as the soil temperature reaches 40 degrees F or higher in spring for early summer harvest. Plant seeds eight to 10 weeks before the first frost is expected in your planting zone for a fall harvest.

• Extend the harvest with multiple plantings, each 10 days apart.

• Turnips are susceptible to downy mildew, damping off and powdery mildew diseases and insects such as cutworms, leafhoppers, flea beetles, root maggots and whiteflies. Control disease risk by rotating turnips with other vegetables. Use a good-quality insecticide to control insects. Check the label to be sure the insecticide is made to kill the specific insects on your plants and is safe to use on vegetables.

References

• Texas A&M University Extension: Easy Gardening
• North Carolina State University: Home Garden Turnips and Rutabagas
• National Gardening Association: Turnips
• University of Illinois Extension: Turnip/Rutabaga

Resources

• Alabama Cooperative Extension Service: Crop Rotation