Secrets of a large and juicy turnip crop

The choice of soil so that the turnip gives a rich harvest

In order for the turnip to reward you with an excellent harvest, you need to find the right soil for it. The soil should be fertile and well fed with organic matter, with a minimum likelihood of groundwater occurrence. Turnip practically does not grow in soil, which has a high clay content. The turnip will grow well in those beds where strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers or potatoes previously grew. I prepare the soil for turnips, as for any other horticultural crops, I level the garden well and carefully break up large clods of earth.

We fertilize correctly

I always apply fertilizers in advance, very early in the spring, as soon as the snow melts. I do not recommend feeding the soil with nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrogen greatly impairs the taste of the root crop. The best feeding for turnips is organic matter (chicken droppings, manure, humus, black soil). After planting, I sprinkle the bed with wood ash, this measure allows you to grow large root crops, and protect them from pests. And in order for the turnip to grow quickly and give fruits as quickly as possible, I water it with an infusion of ash. The solution is very simple to prepare. In the evening, I dissolve one glass of wood ash in ten liters of warm water. I mix everything thoroughly and leave it to brew overnight. In the morning I water the roots with this infusion. I repeat the feeding twice a month.

Landing rules

I plant a turnip twice a season. I start the first planting of turnips at the end of April or the very beginning of May, when the weather is still cool. In the summer we eat the early roots ourselves and feed them or livestock. I do the second sowing at the end of July. Late turnips are very well stored almost all winter. The principle of the first and second landing is the same. Before planting turnips, I warm up the seeds. I do it this way, put the seeds in cheesecloth and immerse them in water for a few minutes (the water temperature should be at least 40 degrees). Turnip seeds are very small and the most convenient way to sow them with sand, in shallow furrows. Sprinkle lightly with soil and water. At the first sowing, I go for a little trick. I cover the bed sown with turnips with hay or straw, if you do this trick on your site, then in 4 days the turnip will delight you with seedlings.

Care

I weed the beds with root crops quite often, I do this so that the weeds do not interfere with the growth of the ripening of the crop. Also, turnips need to be thinned out as needed, root crops need space for good growth. I water the bed with turnips once a week, but very abundantly.

Harvesting

I usually collect turnips as they ripen. But you should not delay with this, the fruits will outgrow and become tough and bitter. In the fall, I hasten to clean the garden before frost. Cut off the foliage of the dug turnip immediately, otherwise it will take all the nutrients on itself. Do not damage the turnip, otherwise its shelf life will drastically decrease.

Turnip: store until spring

After harvesting, I dry turnips under a canopy for several days. And only then I lower it into the cellar. I usually use perforated boxes to store this root vegetable. In such boxes, turnip will be stored until next spring.