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18 Jul 10 Tania (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Hi all, It apprears that one of my turnips is growing above ground. Is this what is meant to happen? I thought I'd leave it as all the others only have their folage above ground so I thought this one could be an experiment, but Im not sure this is practical as I dont want to loss the whole crop if they are all meant to appear above ground. Thanks for your help in advance. Tania

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24 Nov 10 John Bee (Australia - tropical climate)

Hi Tania, Sorry for the delay in replying. I only just noticed your question about turnips... I’ve been growing turnips very successfully for years in my home garden. In fact I’ve never seen the swollen stem base (it’s technically not a root) growing actually in the ground. All of mine have always been fully exposed… maybe it’s the variety I use.. Actually it’s very handy in harvesting because I plant very closely and then thin out by removing the largest plant when it is of edible size. And I do that by just feeling amongst the thick foliage to find the largest base and then pull it out and let the smaller ones around it grow to be large enough to harvest on or two weeks later. My major problem with growing turnips is when I grow them in the same piece of ground for a few years in a row, they really get root nematodes quite badly so I must really start a crop rotation system. Cheers John Bee.

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