Rutabaga roots just lifted, with their leafy tops
How to grow

Rutabagas

Takes a hard frost. Sow in fall 12 to 16 weeks before your first fall frost. First harvest 90 to 110 days from sowing.

Photo: “Rutabaga, variety nadmorska” by Picasa user Seedambassadors, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.

  • Full sun6–8 hours or more
  • 2–8 in apartRows 14–30 in
  • 90–110 daysFrom sowing
  • pH 6.0–7.0Soil pH
  • 1–2 in a weekEven watering
  • HardyTakes a hard frost

Your dates

Put in your ZIP code to see when to start, plant and harvest rutabagas where you live, from your own frost dates.

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From seed to harvest

  1. SowSeed goes inWeek 0
  2. SproutFirst shoots showWeek 1–2
  3. True leavesFirst real leavesWeek 2–4
  4. ThinThin to final spacingWeek 4–6
  5. Root swellsRoots thickenWeek 8–11
  6. HarvestReady to pickWeek 12–16

How to plant and grow

  1. Grow it for fall

    Rutabagas need cool weather as the roots size up, so most gardens grow them as a fall crop sown in early to mid summer.

  2. Sow in summer

    Sow seed 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep about 12 to 16 weeks before first fall frost. Keep the seedbed moist until sprouts appear.

  3. Thin for big roots

    Thin seedlings to 2 to 8 inches apart in rows 14 to 30 inches apart. Wider spacing gives larger roots.

  4. Water steadily

    Give 1 to 2 inches of water a week, most of all as roots near full size.

  5. Guard the seedlings

    Row cover keeps flea beetles and root maggot flies off young plants. Grow cabbage-family crops in a new bed each year.

  6. Harvest after frost

    Light frosts sweeten the roots. Dig at 3 to 5 inches across, and bring them in before the ground freezes hard.

Common problems

A white cabbage maggot burrowing into a brassica stem at soil level
Photo: “Delia radicum, koolvlieg made” by Rasbak, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.

Cabbage maggotPestNo spray helps

What you'll see: Small white maggots tunnel into radish and cabbage-family roots. Plants wilt, and roots are scarred or rotten.

Prevent

  • Cover seeded rows with row cover right after sowing, and bury the edges.
  • Do not cover ground that grew cabbage-family crops last year; flies can hatch under the cover.
  • Move cabbage-family crops to a new bed each year.

Organic options

  • Row cover is the main control. Pull and destroy infested plants.

Conventional options

  • None. No insecticide is labeled for cabbage maggot in home gardens.
A striped flea beetle on the edge of a leaf
Photo: “Phyllotreta striolata P1210443a” by xpda, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.

Flea beetlesPest

What you'll see: Many tiny round holes and pits in leaves, as if hit by buckshot. Tiny dark beetles jump when disturbed.

Prevent

  • Cover seedlings with row cover and seal the edges.
  • Plant a little later, so warm weather carries plants through the damage.
  • Sow radish ahead of the main crop as a trap crop.
  • Clear weeds and old crop debris.

Organic options

  • Spinosad, or OMRI Listed pyrethrins (without piperonyl butoxide).

Conventional options

  • Carbaryl, malathion or permethrin, if the crop is on the label. Older plants seldom need treatment.

Bee caution: Don't spray open flowers. Spray in the late evening, when bees aren't flying.

A dense colony of grey aphids on a kale leaf
Photo: “Aphids on Kale leaf” by Sanjay Acharya, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.

AphidsPest

What you'll see: Clusters of small, soft-bodied green, black or gray insects on new shoots and under leaves. Leaves curl, and a sticky film may coat them.

Prevent

  • Check leaf undersides each week; a few aphids do little harm.
  • Pull nearby weeds, such as wild mustards, that feed aphids.
  • Grow flowers for lady beetles, lacewings and hover flies, and avoid broad sprays that kill them.

Organic options

  • Knock aphids off with a strong spray of water.
  • Insecticidal soap or horticultural oil on leaf undersides, repeated as the label allows.
  • Neem oil, or OMRI Listed pyrethrins (without piperonyl butoxide).

Conventional options

  • Malathion or permethrin, if the crop is on the label. These also kill the insects that eat aphids.

Bee caution: Don't spray open flowers. Spray in the late evening, when bees aren't flying.

A velvety green imported cabbageworm caterpillar on a leaf
Photo: “Pieris rapae - larva 01 (HS)” by Harald Süpfle, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The cropped version is shared under the same licence.

Imported cabbagewormPest

What you'll see: Velvety green caterpillars chew holes in leaves and bore into heads, leaving dark green droppings. White butterflies flutter over the bed.

Prevent

  • Cover plants with row cover from planting.
  • Check leaves each week and pick off caterpillars.

Organic options

  • Hand-pick caterpillars.
  • Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki) or spinosad on young caterpillars. Look for OMRI Listed products.

Conventional options

  • Same as organic: Bt and spinosad are the usual choices.

Bee caution: Don't spray open flowers. Spray in the late evening, when bees aren't flying.

A shiny, segmented wireworm larva on soil
Photo: “Wireworm - Flickr - treegrow (1)” by Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).

WirewormsPestSprays are rarely needed

What you'll see: Thin, shiny, yellow-brown larvae bore narrow holes into potatoes, roots and seeds. Seedlings may wilt.

Prevent

  • Expect them in beds newly made from lawn or sod.
  • Bury chunks of potato as bait, dig them up after about a week, and destroy the larvae.
  • Rotate crops.

Organic options

  • Bait with potato or carrot pieces, and check and destroy the catch often.

Conventional options

  • Insecticides worked into the soil before planting are an option only where wireworms have been a serious problem; most are farm products.
Tomato roots swollen with root-knot nematode galls
Photo: Plant pests and diseases, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Root-knot nematodesPestNo spray helps

What you'll see: Plants are stunted and wilt in the heat. Roots have knobby swellings, and carrots may fork.

Prevent

  • Grow resistant varieties; look for N on the label.
  • Rotate susceptible crops, or move the garden.
  • Solarize the bed: clear plastic over moist, tilled soil for 6 weeks or more in summer.
  • Grow French marigolds as a cover in infested beds.

Organic options

  • Pull and remove roots after harvest.
  • Keep an infested bed bare and tilled through the summer.

Conventional options

  • None for home gardens; nematicides are for commercial applicators.

Read and follow the product label: it is the law. It sets the rate, the crops it is for, and the days between spraying and picking. Products registered vary by state; for organic growing, look for products allowed under the USDA National Organic Program (OMRI Listed). We name active ingredients, not brands or rates.

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Sources

Planting dates and growing facts checked against these university extension and USDA pages:

Growth-stage drawings: TallyTill.

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