How to Grow Turnips with Hydroponics

Growing with hydroponics gives you control over the growing environment. You don’t have to deal with soil-borne pests and diseases. Crops grown hydroponically also tend to grow more quickly than those grown in soil, since they don’t have to expend energy seeking out nutrients. When growing root crops, such as turnips, it is important that the plants are in a container deep enough to allow the roots to fully develop. A simple ebb and flow system can provide both the depth that turnips need and the nutrients to help them grow.

Plant tray with 1/2-inch spigot, 10 to 12 inches deep
Perlite
Tubing, 1/2 inch
Plastic bin, 8 to 10 gallons
Submersible pump with 1/2-inch outlet
Hose clip
Nutrient solution
Digital timer
Turnip seeds

Instructions

- 1
  Set the plant tray in a sunny location on a shelf or table that is at least 2 feet high. Fill the tray with perlite, the medium that will support your turnips as they grow.
- 2
  Connect the tubing to the spigot on the plant tray. This will allow the nutrient solution to drain from the tray back into the reservoir.
- 3
  Place the bin for the nutrient solution on the ground or on a low shelf. The bin needs to be below the level of the plant tray so that gravity can pull the nutrient solution from the tray back into the bin, which serves as the nutrient reservoir. The bin must hold enough nutrient solution to fill the plant tray to within an inch of the top, with some liquid left in reserve in the bin.
- 4
  Attach another length of tubing to the outlet on the submersible pump. This tubing will bring the nutrient solution from the reservoir up into the plant tray. Set the pump in the bin, and bring the tubing up over the side of the plant tray so the nutrient solution will flow into the tray when the pump is turned on. Clip the tubing in place.
- 5
  Fill the reservoir with nutrient solution, available from any hydroponics supplier. Place the tubing from the plant tray spigot into the bin so that the liquid will flow back into the reservoir as the plant tray drains.
- 6
  Plug in the pump, and time how long it takes to fill the plant tray. Set the digital timer to run for that length of time three times per day. If your climate is very dry, set the pump to run four times per day.
- 7
  Spread the turnip seeds in the perlite and barely cover them. Plug the pump into the timer and the timer into an outlet to complete the system setup. Harvest the turnips when they are the size you want, usually within six to eight weeks.

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