Brassica root
How to grow turnips
Brassica rapa (Rapifera group)
Turnips are a quick catch crop, not a long-season root like swede. Sow short rows direct every three weeks from March to August in fertile, moist soil, thin to 10 to 15 cm and pull early varieties at golf-ball size six to eight weeks later. Speed is everything: a turnip that grows without a check is sweet and tender, and one that stalls through drought or crowding turns woody and hot.
- Hardiness
- Hardy
- Position
- Full sun to light shade
- Soil
- Fertile, moisture-retentive
- Ideal pH
- 6.5 to 7.0
- Water
- Moderate, keep moving
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting turnips
WhenSow Mar to Aug in succession; harvest 6 to 10 weeks later
Starting off
Direct from March (fleeced) to August, every 3 weeks, germinating in 6 to 10 days at 8 to 20 °C; sow 'Milan Purple Top' early, maincrop 'Golden Ball' in July for winter. Late August sowings give spring greens. Modules work but roots resent transplanting; sow 1 seed per cell and plant within 3 weeks.
Spacing and planting
Sow 1 to 2 cm deep in drills 23 to 30 cm apart and thin to 10 to 15 cm for early roots and 23 cm for maincrops, 5 cm for turnip tops; early types can go at 10 cm each way. Quick, round varieties such as 'Snowball' crop well in a 20 cm deep pot or trough.
Varieties worth growing
- Purple Top Milan
- Flat, white root with a purple shoulder. Very fast, and the usual choice for the first sowings under fleece.
- Snowball
- Round, pure white and mild; quick enough for pots and for filling gaps through summer.
- Golden Ball
- Yellow-fleshed maincrop with the best flavour for cooking. Sow in July and August; it is hardy and stores well.
- Tokyo Cross F1
- Small white salad turnip ready in about five weeks and eaten raw. Sow from May onwards, as earlier sowings bolt.
Turnips month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Use stored maincrop roots.
- February
Put a cloche over the first row to warm and dry the soil.
- March
Sow Purple Top Milan under the cloche or fleece. Cut turnip tops from last August's sowing.
- April
Sow every three weeks. Thin in stages to 10 cm. Mesh against flea beetle.
- May
First roots ready at golf-ball size. Keep sowing short rows, including Tokyo Cross.
- June
Sow in light shade and water well. Pull before roots pass tennis-ball size.
- July
Sow maincrop Golden Ball from mid July, thinning to 23 cm.
- August
Last maincrop sowing by mid month. Sow thickly in late August for spring tops.
- September
Thin late sowings. Water in dry spells. Pull summer crops.
- October
Start pulling maincrops.
- November
Lift remaining maincrops before hard frost, twist off the tops and store in damp sand.
- December
Use stored roots. Leave the row sown for tops in place.
Feeding turnips
A quick crop that lives off one base dressing. Feed the bed before sowing and then leave it alone; nitrogen later in growth makes leaf and a small, hot root.
A balanced feed and an unchecked, fast run of growth.
Feeding plan
A week before each sowing
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m² raked into the surface, the bottom of the label range. For rows 30 cm apart that is about 20 g per metre of row. Skip it where turnips follow a well-fed crop.
At sowing, only where earlier roots had brown, hollow centres
1 to 2 g/m², a quarter to half a level teaspoon per square metre, once a season and never more.
Maincrops, every 2 to 3 weeks from thinning
1 g per litre of water as a drench or spray. Optional; early turnips are pulled before it makes any difference.
Signs to watch
Brown, hollow centres
Boron short, worst on limed, light soil
Seaweed feed or a light borax dressing next season
Bolting in May
Cold nights after an early sowing or dry soil, not feeding
Fleece and keep moist
Masses of leaf and little root
Excess nitrogen
No feeding on a quick crop
Pests, diseases and problems
Seedling leaves full of tiny round holes, growth checked
Flea beetle, the main pest of spring and summer sowings
Sow under fleece or fine mesh and keep the row moist. Seedlings that grow fast get past the vulnerable stage in a fortnight.
Roots tunnelled and brown inside, with white maggots
Cabbage root fly
Keep fine insect mesh over the row from sowing to pulling, with the edges buried.
Plants wilt in sun; roots are swollen into rough, distorted lumps that rot
Clubroot
Lime acid soil to pH 7 after a test, improve drainage and keep turnips inside the brassica rotation. Burn or bin affected roots; never compost them.
Smooth, round, marble-sized swellings on the root, hollow with a small grub inside
Turnip gall weevil, often mistaken for clubroot
No action needed. The damage is cosmetic and the root is still good to eat; cut the gall off.
White powdery coating on the leaves in a dry late summer
Powdery mildew on plants short of water
Water the row thoroughly once a week and thin on time so air moves between plants.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Pull early types at golf-ball size 6 to 8 weeks from sowing, maincrops at tennis-ball size at 10 weeks; larger roots turn woody. Pull by the leaves after a watering. A 3 m row yields 3 to 4 kg. Early types keep only a week in the fridge; store maincrops in damp sand in a cool shed until February.
Rotation and companions
Rotation: brassica group, 4-year gap, though as a quick crop it can fill gaps in the brassica bed. Peas alongside fix nitrogen and give light shade in summer.
Good to knowGrow quickly and harvest young and tender, a stalled crop turns woody.
Growing turnips in pots
Early, round turnips are a good pot crop. Use a pot or trough at least 20 cm deep, filled with multipurpose compost and the 4-5-6 at 5 g per litre, 50 g for a 10 litre pot. Sow thinly and thin to 10 cm each way, so a 30 cm pot holds five or six roots. Water daily in warm weather, as a dry spell in a pot is enough to make the crop woody, and pull at golf-ball size. Snowball and Tokyo Cross are the varieties to use. Maincrops need open ground.
Turnips: common questions
How long do turnips take to grow?
Early varieties are ready six to eight weeks after sowing, and maincrops in about ten. Salad types such as Tokyo Cross can be pulled at five weeks. Sow every three weeks for a steady supply instead of one large row.
Can you eat turnip leaves?
Yes, turnip tops are a good spring green, cooked like spinach. Sow thickly in late August, leave the plants unthinned over winter and cut the new leaves at 10 to 15 cm in March and April. They will regrow for a second cut.
Why have my turnips gone to seed?
Bolting follows a cold spell on an early sowing, or dry soil in summer. Use an early variety such as Purple Top Milan for March sowings, keep them under fleece until May, and water regularly. Pull bolted plants; the root will be tough.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.