How to Grow Turnips

Two crops in one plant

A turnip gives you both a root and a leafy green, and some cultivars lean one way or the other. Dual-purpose types like 'Purple Top,' 'White Globe,' 'Just Right,' and 'Hakurei' provide good roots and usable greens, while 'Shogoin' is grown mainly for its tender leaves.

Decide which you want before you thin: crowd plants a bit for a greens-focused patch, or give them room if you want well-formed roots. Either way the crop is quick, maturing in about two months.

The when-to-plant-turnips calculator handles the spring-versus-fall timing decision on its own.

Sowing, spacing, and water

Sow seed half an inch deep at roughly 3 to 20 seeds per foot of row, allowing 12 to 24 inches between rows. Plant as early in spring as possible for a summer crop, or about 3 to 4 weeks after you would start rutabagas for a fall harvest.

Thin turnip seedlings to 2 to 4 inches apart once they reach about 4 inches tall — thinnings make good salad greens, so nothing is wasted. Adequate thinning is what lets roots size up properly.

Keep moisture even to avoid cracked, tough roots. The turnip-spacing calculator covers the thinning question on its own.

Frost, harvest, and problems

Turnips are hardy to fall frosts and may in fact be sweetened by cool weather, which is why a late-summer sowing that matures in autumn often tastes better than a spring one racing the heat.

Harvest roots at 2 to 3 inches in diameter, when they are mild and tender; medium-sized roots are the best quality, and turnips left to grow large turn pithy and strongly flavored. Pick greens young, from the outside, while the root keeps growing.

The main pest is root maggots, especially where radishes, turnips, or rutabagas grew the previous year — so rotate. The when-to-harvest-turnips calculator gives the size-and-timing readout directly.

Sources

Reviewed 2026-07-18. We cite university Extension, government, and established horticultural sources — and never invent pesticide rates or dangerous treatments.

• Illinois Extension — Turnip (Home Vegetable Gardening) — Turnips mature in about two months; plant as early in spring as possible for summer use and about 3-4 weeks after rutabagas for fall; sow seeds 1/2 inch deep at 3-20 seeds per foot with 12-24 inches between rows; thin seedlings to 2-4 inches apart when they are 4 inches tall; harvest turnips at 2-3 inches in diameter (best quality, mild and tender, at medium size); both turnips and rutabagas are hardy to fall frosts and may be sweetened by cool weather; 'Shogoin' is grown for greens while 'Purple Top,' 'White Globe,' 'Just Right,' and 'Hakurei' provide both greens and roots; root maggots are a problem where radishes, turnips, or rutabagas grew the previous year.

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