How to Grow Turnips USA
On this page
In the US, turnips are ready to harvest 42–70 days after planting.
The short answer
- Ready in
- 42–70 days
- Site
- 4+ hours of sun, soil pH 6–6.8
- Biggest risk
- Club root
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Turnip (Brassica rapa Rapifera Group)
10 sources cited · Verified
Companion Planting
Quick Facts
| Factor | Value |
|---|---|
| Soil pH | 6 - 6.8 |
| Sunlight | 4-4 hours direct sun |
| Germination temp | 60°F (15.6°C) |
| Optimal growing temp | 50-63°F (10-17°C) |
| Minimum survivable temp | 25°F (-4°C) |
| Time to harvest | 42-70 days |
| Soil texture | RHS: "rich, well-drained soil" with "plenty of organic matter, such as garden compost or well-rotted manure". |
| Drainage | RHS: well-drained soil in a "sunny spot". |
| Edible parts | roots, young leaves |
At a Glance
Soil & Growing Conditions
Water: RHS: water "in dry weather" -- without it roots stay small and woody, and may split. Clemson: "Watering is critical during the seedling stage and the root development stage"; keep "the soil moist but not saturated".
Soil pH range
Span reflects genuine variation between the cited authorities, not a single agreed figure.
Growth Stages
| Stage | BBCH | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sowing & germination | 0 | Sow 1cm deep, rows 23-30cm apart. Germinates quickly and well, though less reliably in hot, dry weather. RHS. |
| Thinning | 3 | Thin early varieties to 15cm apart, maincrop to 23cm (baby veg can be left unthinned or spaced at 10cm); leafy thinnings are usable in salads. RHS. |
| Root development | 4 | Early varieties mature in around six weeks, maincrops in about ten. RHS. |
| Harvest & storage | 8 | Best harvested small -- golf-ball size for eating raw, tennis-ball size for cooking -- since oversized roots turn woody and bitter. Autumn-harvested roots keep for several weeks stored in moist coir or sand in a cool, frost-free place. RHS. |
Harvest & Storage
When to pick: RHS: harvest at the "size of a golf ball for eating raw, or the size of a tennis ball for cooking"; turnips are best "when small and full of flavour". Clemson independently agrees on the tennis-ball benchmark: "Harvest turnip roots when they reach the size of a tennis ball or larger (2½ to 2¾ inches in diameter)".
Storage
RHS: keeps "several weeks in trays of moist coir or sand, in a cool, frost-free place". No numeric storage duration, temperature or humidity is stated, so those columns are left null. Clemson: "These roots store well in plastic bags in the refrigerator or a cold root cellar".
Diseases
Pests
Nutrient Issues
Plan your Turnips planting
When to sow and plant Turnips depends on your own frost dates. Check the USA vegetable planting calendar, or the month-by-month guides that cover Turnips: March, August, September, October, November. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Turnip in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
Sources
-
Diamondback moth is "the most serious insect pest of brassica crops in South Carolina", leaving a window-pane appearance where the upper leaf surface stays intact. Damage is quantified relative to each other: one cabbage looper does roughly the damage of 5 diamondback moth larvae, and imported cabbageworm about two-thirds of a looper. Cross-striped cabbageworm hatches in masses and can rapidly skeletonise a plant, dropping to pupate just under the soil surface. Cabbage webworm damages buds and growing points, causing lateral budding. Cabbage aphids are commoner in cool autumn weather. Flea beetles are most problematic on mustard and turnips, which lack the protective waxy coating.
These 4 sources are specific to this region. The full list of 10 sources behind this guide (Clemson Cooperative Extension, FAO EcoCrop, Royal Horticultural Society and others) is in the references of our UK guide to turnips; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do turnips take to grow?
Typically 42–70 days, depending on cultivar and growing conditions.
What soil pH do turnips need?
A pH of about 6–6.8. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
What problems affect turnips?
Our data links 1 disease and 3 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
Almost everything on this page resolves to your own frost dates rather than the calendar — the last spring frost moves by roughly two months between zone 3 and zone 10. The USA Garden Planner works from your zone so the timing is already decided before the season starts.
Get the USA Garden Planner →Instant PDF download · Written for US growing conditions
How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against USDA hardiness-zone and frost-date data, with Cooperative Extension sources cited directly where one exists for a crop. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
Related Problem Guides
Last verified 2026-08-06
Where To Go From Here
Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.
Keep going
Plan the next step
Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.