Turnip planting, seedling care, early and late planting dates

When planning planting in the country, remember that any culture requires a special approach. If you calculate exactly when to plant turnips, and then take care of it correctly, the root crops will grow big, very large, like in a fairy tale. It will be impossible for the old grandfather to pull them out, he will have to call young helpers or use a garden tool. Although not a single peasant family could live without this vegetable in Russia, they began to cultivate it not here, but in Western Asia 4 millennia ago. Until the inhabitants of Russian villages got acquainted with potatoes, turnip was the main product from which the first and second courses were prepared.

What turnips will we plant

Petrovskaya turnip seeds are most often found on sale. Many gardeners are used to this variety, and not everyone knows that many other varieties can be grown and the flavor palette of vegetable dishes can be varied. Some families even eat fodder turnips - turnips - and prepare wonderful dishes from it. Breeders have developed special salad varieties, in which the tops are also used for food.

Depending on the ripening period, there are early turnip varieties that you can taste within 1.5-2 months after planting, medium ones, ripening in 2-3 months, and late ones, which need at least 90 days to gain full volume. In addition, plants differ in taste, size of root crops, winter storage possibilities and many other indicators.

Plant varieties that are more suitable for your needs:

• Petrovskaya perfectly stored, the root vegetable is yellow;
• White Night - white fruits weighing up to 500 g;
• Snow Maiden - variety with leaves suitable for salad and small white turnips;
• May yellow green-headed - early ripening turnip for summer use, unsuitable for storage;
• Sapphire - grown mainly for the production of leaves for salad;
• Geisha - cold-resistant variety with excellent taste white roots and salad leaves.

Another feature of the turnip is that it is very easily pollinated. If you want to get your own seeds, set up a garden bed away from cabbage crops. If this problem is not difficult to solve, then the rape grows wherever it wants, regardless of your desire. Destroy this weed in time, do not leave it even in a vacant lot next to the beds, so that next year you will not have an incomprehensible hybrid instead of a turnip.

When to plant turnips so that the root crop is juicy and large

If you want to get an early harvest of turnips, sow seeds for seedlings a couple of months before planting in open ground. In the second half of May, the seedlings can be moved to the garden bed. The second way to speed up the ripening of root crops is to sow before winter. Under the snow, the seeds will harden, prepare for the development of embryos, and in early spring you will see friendly shoots.

Not all gardeners want to tinker with seedlings, usually turnips are sown directly in the open ground. In the middle lane, this work can be carried out from late April to early June. The main condition is that the soil should already thaw and warm up a little. Frost-resistant seeds can germinate even if the temperature is slightly above 0⁰. Root crops obtained during spring planting are suitable only for consumption in a short time, they are unsuitable for winter storage. To avoid wasting your labors and seeds, consider how much fresh turnip you need during the summer months.

To bookmark for long-term storage, turnips must be sown in July.When choosing a date, be guided by the ripening period of the selected variety and the climatic conditions of your area. For peasants in Russia, the best time for harvesting turnips was considered the Exaltation, or September 27. In the middle lane at this time there is an Indian summer, the most successful weather for harvesting root crops. If a bag of seeds has a ripening time of 60 days, add a week and a half to emergence, and you will see that you need to sow in mid-July. It is especially undesirable to delay planting: if the crop gets frozen, the fruits will become soft, tasteless and unsuitable for storage.

Seedling preparation

Many cruciferous diseases, such as turnip, are seed-borne. Before sowing, dissolve 5 g of salt in 100 ml of water, throw the seeds into a glass and stir well. Only grains that have sunk to the bottom are suitable for growing. Throw away the floating instances, there will be no sense from them. To disinfect the seeds, heat the seeds in a cloth bag in a thermos with water at a temperature of about 54⁰ 20 minutes - and immediately cool them in cold water. In this way, you kill the infection and harden the embryos. Instead of heating, you can use a solution of potassium permanganate: 4 g of powder per glass of water.

After decontamination, rinse the grains and place them in a damp cloth to peck. If you are going to grow seedlings in boxes, you can sow the seeds thickly.

Advice

Turnip does not tolerate root damage. If you want to grow strong, healthy seedlings, it is better to sow the grains in peat tablets or pots that you bury in the garden bed.

Seedlings need high humidity, and a comfortable temperature for them is from + 5⁰C to + 15⁰C. Cover the crops with a glass cap and take them out to the glazed loggia, where they will get stronger and will be ready for growing in the open field. When shoots appear, cut off weak plants with scissors, leave only strong specimens. Further care consists in watering, feeding and loosening.

At the age of one and a half months, start hardening the plants. Take them outdoors every day, first in the middle of the day, and gradually increase the time you “walk”. In 2 weeks, the turnip should be hardened so that it can be left outside around the clock. Growing turnips through seedlings is a laborious method, and this culture hates transplanting. She is not afraid of frost, seeds can be sown in the greenhouse in early spring, and you will collect the first crop not much later than when planting seedlings in open ground.

Landing in the garden

Turnip beds are best prepared in the fall. Select an area where legumes, potatoes, or tomatoes used to grow. It is better not to plant after cruciferous crops, horseradish or watercress: pests and infections that are dangerous for root crops can remain in the soil. If you want to save space and compact the bed with other crops, plant in the aisles peas or beans. Turnip loves light loams, sandy loams and peat bogs, the acidic reaction of the soil is not to her liking. If you notice that sorrel or horsetail grows with pleasure in the garden, add lime to the soil. On acidic soils, turnip can grow and give a good harvest, only root crops will be poorly stored.

Advice

Turnip loves ash very much. Before digging, light a large fire on the future garden bed, and then distribute the burnt coals over the entire area.

Fresh turnip manure is contraindicated; during autumn digging, apply for each m² 3 kg of rotted organic matter. Add 15 g each of nitrogen, potash and phosphorus fertilizers. Now you can sow the seeds before winter or early spring. Loosen the soil first, then compact it slightly. The distance between the grooves should be about 20 cm. If you do not save seeds, sow densely, 1 cm per seed. When shoots appear, you will destroy all weak plants so that only the strongest specimens remain in the garden. If planting turnips takes place in the spring, seal the seeds 2 cm, in the fall, make the grooves a little deeper.It is necessary to sow after frost, when the soil has already become icy, turned into dense clods. Sprinkle the seeds with warm peat - and wait for spring, when shoots appear.

Advice

If sowing turnips before winter, mark the edges of the rows with small pegs so that in the spring you know where the seedlings should appear.

When the plantings sprout, remove weak specimens, do not pay attention to the density of seedlings for now. To protect against cruciferous flea beetles, treat the bed with ash, and then mulch it with hay or last year's fallen leaves with a layer not thinner than 5 cm. Weeds will not break through such a barrier, the soil will remain loose and retain moisture for a long time. After half a month, carry out a second thinning, in which you need to provide space for the turnip. The distance between plants must be at least 10 cm.

Care of young plants

Turnip is an unpretentious plant, but if you leave it completely without care, the harvest will be poor and tasteless. Plants are especially demanding for watering. If you had to try a bitter tough root crop, it means that the owners, when growing, regretted water for the garden. In dry weather, you need to moisten the beds 2 times a week, for each m² you need to pour out at least 5 liters of water. Watering should be stopped when the turnip reaches the desired size: after that, excess moisture will lead to cracks.

There are 3 periods when plants are especially in need of watering:

1. from sowing seeds to emergence;
2. during the formation of true leaves;
3. with active growth of root crops.

Turnip does not need special feeding. If you have prepared the bed correctly, there should be enough nutrition for the plants. During growth, you can fertilize it with organic matter a couple of times. Newly appeared seedlings can be watered with herbal infusion. To protect against pests, you can spray the plantings with a decoction of tomato leaves or potato tops. Before processing, dissolve 40 g of soap shavings in 10 liters of broth.

Output

To get an early harvest of turnip, it can be grown through seedlings, but this is a troublesome occupation, the plants do not tolerate transplanting well. It is better to sow seeds in open ground as soon as the earth warms up a little. You will get the harvest of early ripening varieties in 1.5 months after the shoots appear. If you also plant salad species, you can enjoy delicious juicy leaves.

For spring sowing, the entire crop must be consumed after harvest. For winter use, the seeds must be sown in July. Calculate planting times correctly to harvest the entire crop before frost. Pay attention to the peculiarities of the variety: some varieties are not suitable for long-term storage. They need to be eaten first.

This culture does not like density; after the appearance of entrances, it is necessary to thin out the plantings. The rest of the care is simple. If the soil has been properly prepared in advance, a couple of dressings will be enough. Particular attention should be paid to watering. Turnip is an unpretentious and grateful plant, pay very little attention to it, and it will repay with a rich tasty harvest.