This popular Canadian variety sports a deep purple crown and cream-yellow base. Uniform 5–6" almost neckless roots suitable for winter storage, larger and sweeter than American Purple Top. Pale yellow flesh has refined texture and taste. “The mix of a sweet cabbage flavor with a potato-ish texture,” summarizes Anne Elder of Community Farm.
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③ Domestic and foreign corporations not part of a larger conglomerate
| Variety | Product Type | Hybrid Status | Days to Maturity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurentian | seeds | open pollinated | 95 days |
|
Pike “Turnip” ECO |
seeds | open pollinated | 95 days |
From early May through mid-December, items shipping from our garden seeds warehouse ship twice a week, usually Tuesday and Thursday. For quickest turnaround time order online by noon Monday or Wednesday.
* We are currently receiving seed from our growers. We may hold orders for up to two weeks as we pack seed to complete orders.
Culture: Minimum germination temperature 40°, optimal range 60-85°. Direct seed at 1 seed per inch, sown in rows 1–2' apart. Thin to 2" apart for small salad turnips, and 3–4" for full-sized roots. Turnips have a shorter growing season and are not as cold-hardy or as good keepers as rutabagas. Turnips are best picked before they get large and fibrous. Rutabagas, also known as Swedish turnips or Swedes, form enlarged roots above ground with a finely branched system below.
Disease: DM: Downy Mildew
Note: Because of quarantine, we cannot ship rutabagas and turnips in packets greater than ½ oz. (14 grams) into the Willamette Valley of Oregon except those that have tested negative for Black Leg and Black Rot.
Insect Pest: Adult Cabbage Fly, Delia spp., (AKA cabbage root fly, turnip fly) lay their eggs near the base of the main stem of brassica roots. The maggot can damage your root crop. Row cover can exclude the adult flies from laying eggs. Long crop rotation between brassica crops and thorough incorporation of all crop debris in fall reduces the overwintering maggots and interrupts the generational cycle. Old-timers in Maine always made the seed bed as clean as possible, with no visible organic matter, and avoided sowing fall turnips and rutabagas until after July 4. A late crop is better than a wormy one!
For the latest results of our germination tests, please see the germination page.
All of our seeds are non-GMO, and free of neonicotinoids and fungicides. Fedco is one of the original companies to sign the Safe Seed Pledge.
