Whether you ’re look to mature swede because of their genus Cancer - fighting compounds , because you enjoy them crunch like potatoes , or only because you seem to fail at grow them season after to time of year and just need to smash it for once , there is some good news program : Rutabagas are n’t operose to grow , but you have to come after the rules .
Rutabagas are basically long - seasonturnips . They take a full supernumerary calendar month to get , but they ’ll reward you with redolence and flavor . They store well than your modal turnip — up to six calendar month under the right conditions — so they make a great contribution to your late wintertime meals in addition to your decline marketplace table .
Selecting Rutabaga Varieties
The rutabaga kind called Joan is arguably the most democratic heirloom miscellanea on the market , though Seed Savers Exchange also sell a white , albino Brassica napus napobrassica called Macomber that is excellent . moot Laurentian rutabagas for gamy issue or Helenor for uniformness . Baker Creek offer up a sort called Purple Top — the greens of which are a backcountry pet in my part of Kentucky — while Southern Exposure Seed Exchange pop the question three other unique heirlooms deserving try . Plant several varieties to see which work best for your soil and market .
Soil Preparation
Like most turnips , rutabagas favor well - drained territory richly in constitutional matter . Be sure to prepare the beds well with an inch or so of compost and a unspoilt preemptive cultivation before planting . Because rutabagas will be in the ground for a long time , thus pinned against both cold- and warm - weather weeds , be sure to organize the beds as best you could beforehand . According to Johnny ’s Selected Seeds , rutabagas choose a land pH of 6.4 to 6.8 for high execution and flavor .
Planting Rutabagas
For most expanse , spring planting of rutabagas is not recommend because they be given to become woody in the summer heat . Some areas of the due south can overwinter Brassica napus napobrassica , though growing for a fall harvest home is still broadly speaking favor .
Rutabagas should be planted 90 to 110 day before the designate harvest time . So if you trust to harvest your rutabagas in the commencement of November , they should be in the ground no later than the beginning of August — July is better in most areas . If direct seeding , sow in cum at about an column inch aside and thin to about 6 in . If transplanting , localize plants with 6 inches between each . Rows should be 1½ to 2 feet apart .
Rutabagas are semi - sluggish to develop , slow growing and susceptible to weed pressure , so be sure to prepare your beds well beforehand . This may call for irrigating , waiting several days and raking before you seed or or transplant . Once seedlings come up , cultivate after every pelting tocontain weed pressure level . This will insure fitter , more rich plant , a larger yield and a mark reduction in the amount of time spend digging around to find the antecedent fare harvest home .
Companion Planting
Because craw of the same household tend to share pests and disease — not to mention minerals and micronutrient — keep rutabagas away from sphere where you ’ve grown other brassicas recently . Rutabagas have been known to grow well after or with onions , pea orbeans . And according to Louise Riotte in her definitive bookCarrots Love Tomatoes(Storey Publishing , 1998 ) , hairy vetch seems to make a good fellow traveller for the turnip phratry . Consider a winter / spring cover craw of vetch in any bed you may be planting Swedish turnip .
Rutabaga Pests And Diseases
The primary pesterer for rutabaga include flea beetle , simoleons moths , harlequin beetles and cabbage root maggots . Moles , field mouse , rabbits and deer may also nibble . Row cover is almost always the most effective balk for any of those pests , but exert healthy ground and following a solidcrop rotation planwill help keep the harvest ahead of most encroachment . Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt ) can be apply , though always avoid adding any pesticide — biological or not — for as long as you may to understate collateral damage : the killing of beneficial insects .
Brassica napus napobrassica are not overly susceptible to disease problems unless crop rotations are not rigorously adhere to or fertility and drainage are unequal . Rootnot , white blot and club root are common diseases that may come about . If these are see , remove the septic plants from the garden and preferably from the farm . Planting in an area with good ventilation , while film precaution not to overwater , will assist keep plants disease - gratuitous .
Harvesting Rutabagas
Rutabagas pull in their classical sweetness after a couple rime so try not to reap until the plants have had a good chill or three . slue the park off only , and then move to storage .
Storing Rutabagas
Store rutabaga at 32 degrees F and high-pitched humidity for up to six month . Remember that one high-risk apple , er white turnip , spoils the whole bunch , so regularly cull any rutabagas that waste throughout the winter .
