PlantSowGrow
How to grow Turnip (Purple Top Milan)
Brassica rapa subsp. rapa
🥕 Vegetable
🌱 Grown each year
Flattish white roots with purple shoulders; pick them golf-ball sized for tender, sweet baby turnips.
At a glance: Sow mid March to late June, harvest from late April.
When to sow, plant and harvest
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Sow outdoors
Harvest
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Turnip (Purple Top Milan): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water regularly in dry weather
- Soil
- Fertile, well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 10 cm
- In pots
- Grows well in containers
- Feeding
- A general feed before sowing or planting
- Harvest
- About 45 days from sowing
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 3–9
- Difficulty
- Easy
Step by step
- Mid March – late June · 4 weeks before the last spring frost
Sow Seeds Outdoors
Sow thinly in drills where they are to grow.
- 5–10 days after “Sow Seeds Outdoors” · Late March
Check Germination
Seedlings should appear in 5–10 days. If sown outdoors, thin to 10 cm apart when big enough to handle.
- 35–56 days after “Check Germination” · Late April – mid May
Start Harvesting
Pull when golf-ball to tennis-ball size.
- 14–28 days after “Start Harvesting” · Mid May – late May
Sow Another Batch (optional)
Sow again every 3 weeks.
- 30–60 days after “Sow Another Batch” · Early June – early July
Finish and Clear
Clear the remains to the compost heap once cropping ends.
