How to Grow Turnips in the Spring

Fill a seed tray or small container with potting soil, leaving a 1/4- to 1/2-inch rim above the soil line. Moisten the soil with a diffuse-headed or shower-head small sprinkling can. A spray water bottle also works. Let the soil drain and dry for 24 to 48 hours.

Scratch the soil surface with a pencil tip or a finger to create random planting furrows 1/4- to 1/2-inch deep. Drop tiny turnip seeds into the furrow, spaced 1/2 inch apart. Replace the moist soil atop the seeds in the furrow and gently tamp the soil with your fingers to bring the soil particles into direct contact with the seeds.

Place the seed tray or container in a cool location in bright, indirect light. A room temperature between 50 and 60 F is ideal, such as in a garage or basement. Keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings pop up from the ground 7 to 14 days later.

Move the seed tray or container into brighter diffused daylight once seedlings appear, green up and display their first leaves. Rotate the tray daily prevent the plant from leaning toward the light as it grows.

Cultivate the outdoor vegetable garden bed with a shovel or tiller machine to a depth of 6 to 10 inches. Scatter a 2- to 3-inch layer of organic matter atop the bed before cultivating, as this improves soil fertility and texture before the turnips are transplanted outside. Let the freshly tilled soil settle for three to seven days.

Create a planting furrow 2-inches deep with a hoe in the prepared vegetable bed four to six weeks before the last expected spring frost date in your area.

Jostle or pull up the turnip seedlings from the seedling tray, preserving as much of the root system and attached soil and the seedling's stem and leaves. The seedlings are now roughly three to four weeks old and 3 to 4 inches tall.

Place a turnip seedling into the furrow and backfill soil around it so it's growing at roughly the same depth at which it was previously growing. Use the soil stain line on the seedling stem to gauge how deeply to plant it in the vegetable bed. Space seedlings every 4 inches in the furrow row.

Water the newly planted turnip seedlings immediately after transplanting. Monitor the soil over the next two to four weeks as the seedlings grow, supplementing rainfall to maintain an evenly moist soil.

Remove any weeds that sprout up in the turnip patch with a hoe or by hand. The root system of each turnip is delicate, so do not get the hoe blade closer than 4 inches from the seedling. Hand-pick weeds carefully out from among the turnips in the row.

Harvest turnips in April or May, approximately 40 to 60 days after they were transplanted outside into the garden, depending on variety. Alternatively, watch the growth of the turnips and note the swelling size of the rounded top of the root to know when to harvest. The ideal size for harvest and optimal quality is when the root is 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Leaves may be eaten fresh in salads, but the roots need to be pulled up promptly, as increasing springtime heat causes the roots to become tough and fibrous and more bitterly flavored.