Purple Top Rutabaga Seeds For Planting (Brassica napus)

Description

Grow American Purple Top Rutabaga from freshly harvested Brassica napobrassica seeds. Purple Top Rutabaga is a cool weather vegetable that produces 3 to 6 inch roots & is best grown in early to late fall. These nutty & sweet flavored roots offer a hint of turnip spice and can be baked, fried, sautéed, boiled, mashed, or added to stews & soups as well. Purple Top rutabaga is also enjoyed raw & makes a great addition to salads and coleslaw when grated. Purple Top Rutabaga is ready for harvesting in roughly 90 days after first sprouts appear.

Rutabaga is thought to have originated from Bohemia in the 17th century. Also known as Swedes, this ordinary vegetable is a cross between a turnip and wild cabbage. Rutabaga offers a rich amount of Vitamin C to boost your immune system. It is also known to provide you with a fair share of potassium & manganese and is a good source of thiamin, fiber, vitamin B6, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus. Additional information about Rutabaga can be found within this article.

Sowing The Seed

Because Purple Top Rutabaga does best in cooler temperatures, they can be established directly outdoors, 100 days prior to the first frost, in early Fall. Begin by clearing your sowing area of all unwanted plant life and weeds. Sow the seeds at a depth of 1/4" under topsoil. Purple Top Rutabaga can be sown indoors as well, using peat pots for easiest transplanting outdoors.

Growing Conditions

Purple Top Rutabaga will prefer an area of full sunlight with cooler temperatures of 50F to 60F. They thrive in a medium that is fertile & rich in organic matter. You will also want to make sure that the medium is well drained. To increase your drainage, we recommend adding a light compost to any areas that consist of hard, compact soil. Water your Purple top Rutabaga with a soaker setting to ensure that the roots receive plenty of water. The plants should never remain soggy however.

Germination & Growth

Purple Top Rutabaga seeds will begin to sprout within 7 to 14 days after sowing. The plants will establish bulb shaped roots, which will resemble that of a turnip. It's leafy greens can grow to a mature height of about 12 to 14 inches tall, spreading roughly 7 inches wide. Purple top Rutabaga plants can be spaced 6 inches apart, in rows spaced 12 to 18 inches apart.

Harvesting Purple Top Rutabaga

Purple Top Rutabaga can be harvested in roughly 90 days after first sprouts appear, when the roots are plump, full and peaking from the ground. The leafy, green tops can also be harvested as well. Never remove more than 25% of the leafy greens however as this can stunt the production of your Rutabaga roots.