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Freshly pulled purple-top turnips with their greens

Oregon · Washington · Idaho

When to plant turnips

Plant in the garden: Portland and Seattle Mar 1 – Apr 12; Spokane Apr 1 – May 13; Boise Mar 20 – May 1; Bend Apr 28 – Jun 9.

Turnips are a cabbage-family root grown for their white, often purple-shouldered roots and their leaves, which cook like mustard greens. Small Japanese salad turnips such as Hakurei are sweet enough to eat raw, while larger types are roasted, mashed or added to stews. Rutabagas, often mixed up with turnips, are a different, slower crop with yellow flesh.

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Puts turnips on your free plan, with dates for your town and a spot in your beds.

Difficulty
Easy
Sun
Full sun
Spacing
Thin to 4 inches apart
Planting depth
½ inch deep
Frost
Handles light frost
First harvest
About 50 days after planting

Harvest small for tender roots. Fall turnips sweeten after a light frost.

Turnip planting dates

TownsPlant in the gardenPlant again for fall
Portland, OR, Seattle and Tacoma, WAMar 1 – Apr 12Aug 13–27
Spokane, WAApr 1 – May 13Aug 10–24
Boise and Meridian, IDMar 20 – May 1Aug 13–27
Bend and Redmond, ORApr 28 – Jun 9Jul 13–27
Astoria, ORMar 25 – May 6Aug 13–27

Dates for six main cities. For any of the other 80 towns, type it in the box at the top of the page or browse all towns.

Turnip year at a glance

TaskJFMAMJJASOND
PlantMarAprAug
HarvestMayJunOctNovDec

Around Portland. Colder towns, especially east of the Cascades, run a few weeks later; the table above has your town's planting dates.

How to grow turnips

  1. Prepare the bed: loosen the soil and mix in an inch or two of compost.
  2. Plant seeds on your city's dates, ½ inch deep, Thin to 4 inches apart.
  3. Keep the soil evenly moist until sprouts appear, which can take one to three weeks in cool soil.
  4. Plant again on your city's dates for a fall harvest.
  5. Harvest: Pull at 2 to 3 inches across for tender roots. The greens are good to eat too.

Growing turnips in your part of the Northwest

The same plant behaves differently on the wet west side, the foggy coast and the dry, colder east side.

West-side valleys

Willamette Valley, Puget Sound, southern Oregon

Root maggots are a problem in cool, wet soil, so cover spring sowings. Turnips sown in late summer are sweeter after the first frosts.

Coast

Oregon and Washington coast

Turnips grow well in the cool climate and can be sown from spring through late summer.

East of the Cascades

Columbia Basin, Yakima, Boise, Spokane, north Idaho

Spring heat makes turnips woody, so sow early or grow them as a fall crop. Water evenly.

High desert and mountain towns

Central Oregon, high eastern Oregon valleys, McCall, Salmon

Turnips handle frost and grow well here. Fall frosts sweeten the roots.

More turnip varieties

More widely sold picks that do well somewhere in the Northwest. The tag says which part of the Northwest suits each one best.

Hakurei

Salad turnip, white · 38 days

Smooth, white, sweet roots that are tender enough to eat raw, plus tasty greens. Fast enough to fit between other crops in spring or fall.

Both sides

Purple Top White Globe

Heirloom, storage · 55 days

The classic turnip with a purple shoulder and white bottom. Roots store well, and fall crops get noticeably sweeter after a light frost.

Both sides

Scarlet Queen

Hybrid, red · 43 days

Flattened, bright red roots with crisp white flesh and red-stemmed greens. Mild and tender, and resistant to downy mildew in damp weather.

Both sides

Golden Ball

Heirloom, yellow · 60 days

Also called Orange Jelly, with golden yellow, fine-grained flesh and a sweet, mild flavor. A good keeper and a colorful change from white turnips.

Both sides

Tokyo Cross

Hybrid, white · 35 days

Small, smooth, pure white roots that stay tender even when left a bit large. Quick and uniform, it is good for fast spring and fall plantings.

Both sides

Seven Top

Greens only · 45 days

Grown for its leafy tops rather than its roots. Very cold hardy, it supplies cooking greens late into fall and through mild west-side winters.

West side

How much to grow

How many to plant

For a family of four, a 10-foot row in spring and again in late summer.

What to expect

About 1 pound per foot of row, plus greens.

Storing the harvest

Cut off the tops and keep roots in the fridge for several weeks.

What to plant after turnips

Around Portland, the turnip harvest wraps up around June. These crops can still go into the same bed, and they come from a different plant family, which helps with rotation.

Portland dates. Pick your town at the top of the page for yours.

Key numbers

Top care tip: Water evenly and pull roots at 2 to 3 inches across, while they're still sweet and tender.

Growing notes

What makes the difference in Northwest gardens, in plain language.

Soil and sowing

Turnips grow best in loose, well-drained soil with a pH of about 6.0 to 7.5. Mix in some compost, but avoid heavy nitrogen, which grows leaves instead of roots. Sow seeds directly, keep the soil moist until they sprout, and thin early so each plant has room. Crowded turnips stay small and lopsided. Steady watering keeps roots sweet and smooth; dry soil makes them hot and woody.

Spring vs fall, and why fall is sweeter

Turnips are a cool-season crop. In spring, warm weather and long days can make roots tough and plants bolt, so sow as early as the soil allows and pick young. Fall crops, sown in mid to late summer, mature as the weather cools, and a light frost turns some of their starches to sugar. West of the Cascades, fall turnips often hold in the ground into early winter. East of the Cascades, harvest before the soil freezes hard. Hakurei is a quick, mild salad turnip, while Purple Top White Globe is the classic for cooking and storage.

Root maggots, harvest and storage

Cabbage root maggots tunnel into turnips in cool, wet soil, leaving brown trails. Row cover laid on at sowing keeps the egg-laying flies away, and rotating where you plant cabbage-family crops helps too. Pull roots at 2 to 3 inches across for the most tender texture. Twist off the greens, which are good cooked, and store roots in a bag in the fridge for several weeks. Larger fall turnips can keep for months in a cold, damp root cellar.

Good neighbors and crop rotation

Good neighbors

  • Lettuce and peas. Same early timing.

Keep apart

  • Other cabbage-family crops in the same bed every year. Shared pests and clubroot build up; rotate.

Cabbage family: Grow cabbage-family crops in a different bed each year and come back to the same spot only every three or four years. Clubroot, which swells and knots the roots, lives in the soil for many years once it arrives, and root maggot pupae wait in last year's bed.

Pests and problems

What most often goes wrong with turnips in Northwest gardens, how to spot it and what to do.

Cabbage root maggots

Signs: Tunnels in the roots.

What to do: Row cover from sowing.

Flea beetles

Signs: Tiny holes in young leaves.

What to do: Row cover from sowing.

Common questions about growing turnips

When should I plant turnips in Oregon, Washington and Idaho?

Plant in the garden: Mar 1 – Apr 12 in Portland and Seattle, Apr 1 – May 13 in Spokane, Mar 20 – May 1 in Boise and Apr 28 – Jun 9 in Bend. Pick your town at the top of the page for your own dates.

Why are my turnips woody or bitter?

They were probably left in the ground too long, grew in hot weather, or dried out. Pick turnips small, about 2 to 3 inches across, and keep the soil moist. Fall crops are usually the sweetest.

Can you eat turnip greens?

Yes, turnip greens are tasty cooked like spinach or collards. Young greens are the most tender. Take a few leaves from each plant if you still want good roots.

When should I plant turnips for fall?

Sow in mid to late summer so roots mature in the cool fall weather. Keep the seedbed moist during the heat of August. Check your local calendar for exact dates.

Also on these lists:

See what else to plant in March, April or August.

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