Add it to your home screen and it opens full screen: no browser bars, one tap away, and everything stays signed in. Free, nothing to download from an app store.
- Tap the Share button in your browser
- Scroll down and choose “Add to Home Screen”
- Open GrowSomeFood from your home screen
- Open your browser’s menu
- Choose “Add to Home screen” or “Install app”
- Open GrowSomeFood from your home screen
Rutabaga
The rugged, sweet cousin of the turnip: a large yellow-fleshed root that takes a long, cool fall season to mature and stores for months - a classic cold-climate keeper.
Safety notes Both the swollen root and the young leaves (greens) are edible. Safe as food; like all brassicas, only mildly goitrogenic in very large raw amounts - a non-issue in normal cooking.
Overview
The rutabaga (called swede in much of the world) is a big, dense, yellow-fleshed root vegetable with a mild, sweet, earthy flavor - the hearty foundation of winter stews, mashes, and roasts. A likely ancient cross between the turnip and wild cabbage, it's a true cold-season crop: slow-growing, frost-loving, and one of the best-storing roots you can grow, keeping for months in a cellar to feed you through winter.
The one thing to knowThe rutabaga (called swede in much of the world) is a big, dense, yellow-fleshed root vegetable with a mild, sweet, earthy flavor - the hearty foundation of winter stews, mashes, and roasts.
Quick facts
- Sprouts in
- 7 daysRange: 4–12 days
- Soil temperature
- 70 °FRange: 45–85 °F
- Height
- 16 inRange: 12–20 in
- Spread
- 10 inRange: 8–12 in
- Cold
- Takes hard frostdamaged below 20°F
- Heat
- Struggles above 80°F
- Life cycle
- Grown as an annualBotanically a biennial
- Save seeds
- Second yearafter overwintering a few plants
- Soil
- Well-drained
- Water
- Medium
- Plant spacing
- 8 inRange: 6–10 in
When to plant
Nothing is open today. Summer sowing opens 9 months, Jul 7 to Aug 1.
- Direct sow Jul 7 – Aug 1 Opens in 261 daysAbout 16 weeks before to 12 weeks before your first frost (Oct 25 here)The main crop: sow in early-to-mid summer so roots mature in cool fall weather. Count back about 90-100 days from your first frost, plus a little buffer.
Frost here: last around Apr 10 (Mar 27 to Apr 24 most years), first around Oct 25. Zone averages, your own yard may run a week or two either way.
Life stages
From the first start to harvest
Follow the growing sequence. Choose a stage to see its care and signs to watch for.
Stage 1 of 4 · The growing sequence
Germination
Day 0 to 7 from sowing
Care at this stage
-
Keep the seedbed evenly moist
Direct-sow seed 1/2 inch deep, about 2 inches apart, in rows 14-18 inches apart. Keep the surface damp; rutabaga sprouts quickly in warm soil.
-
Time it for a fall harvest
Sow in early-to-mid summer so the roots bulk up in cool fall weather - rutabaga needs 90-100 days and tastes best maturing through light frosts.
Stages can overlap; weather, variety, and growing conditions change the pace.
Harvest
- Root 3-5 inches across at the shoulder
- Best after one or two light frosts, which sweeten the flesh
- Firm and heavy - dig before the ground freezes solid
- Lift roots when 3-5 inches across, after frost
- In cold zones, harvest before the ground freezes solid
Per plant 1 root, 12 to 56 ozPicking pull once
Cook with rutabagas
Watch out for
4 to know. 2 are high-risk: Cabbage Root Maggot, Clubroot. None are active in October.
Cabbage Root MaggotSeverity High PestSeason: May–AugSudden wilting on the first warm days even though the soil is moist, stunted plants with a bluish cast, and - on pulling a failing plant - brown tunnels and slimy scarring through the roots with small white maggots inside.
Rutabaga is the crop this pest hurts most, because the root is what you are growing and it stands in the ground for months. Row cover from sowing, plus a collar or diatomaceous earth at the stem base, is far more effective than any rescue.
Sudden wilting on the first warm days even though the soil is moist, stunted plants with a bluish cast, and - on pulling a failing plant - brown tunnels and slimy scarring through the roots with small white maggots inside.
There is no rescue once the maggots are inside the roots. Pull and destroy badly infested plants rather than composting them, and reset the bed with row cover and rotation. Beneficial nematodes drenched into the soil help suppress the larvae in a bed you have to keep using.
Cover the crop with floating row fabric from the day you sow or transplant, sealing the edges down to the soil so the fly cannot reach the stems, or fit a cardboard or felt collar disc flat around each stem to block egg-laying. Rotate at least three years away from ground that grew brassicas, and do not plant into fresh manure.
The larvae of a small gray fly that lays its eggs at the soil line against brassica stems. The white maggots hatch and tunnel down into the roots, scarring and rotting them, so plants wilt on warm days, stunt, take on a blue-green cast, and can die outright; root brassicas are tunneled through and spoiled. It is worst in cool, wet spring soil, on transplants and early sowings, and in ground that grew brassicas the year before.
ClubrootSeverity High DiseaseSeason: Jun–SepMidday wilting that recovers overnight, yellowing and stunting with no obvious cause, and - the giveaway - swollen, distorted, clubbed roots instead of clean ones when a plant is pulled.
Rutabagas stand in the ground for months and the root is the crop, so clubroot ruins it outright rather than just checking the yield. Where the disease is present, grow a tolerant variety such as Helenor.
Midday wilting that recovers overnight, yellowing and stunting with no obvious cause, and - the giveaway - swollen, distorted, clubbed roots instead of clean ones when a plant is pulled.
There is no cure once the soil is infested. Pull and destroy affected plants - bag them, do not compost them - lime the bed, and keep brassicas off that ground for years. Rotation and pH are the whole game here.
Rotate at least 4 years out of every brassica, counting the fast salad ones and any brassica cover crop. Lime toward pH 7.0-7.2, since the pathogen dislikes alkaline soil, and improve drainage. Plant only clean seed and transplants, never move infested soil or plants around the garden, and grow resistant or tolerant varieties where the disease is known to be present.
A soil-borne pathogen (Plasmodiophora brassicae) that infects brassica roots and swells them into distorted, clubbed galls. Affected plants stunt and yellow, wilt on warm afternoons and recover overnight, and never size up properly. It is worst in acidic, poorly drained ground, and the resting spores survive in soil for up to 20 years, moving around on soil, tools, boots, water and infected transplants.
Flea BeetlesSeverity Medium PestSeason: Apr–JulDozens of pinhead-sized round holes peppered across the leaves, thickest on the youngest, most tender growth.
Heavy early feeding can stunt or kill seedlings, though established rutabaga tolerates moderate leaf feeding since you harvest the root. Row cover on seedlings is the best defense.
Dozens of pinhead-sized round holes peppered across the leaves, thickest on the youngest, most tender growth. Tiny beetles that spring away as you brush the plants or lean in for a closer look - that jump is the identification. Seedlings that go lacy and stop growing, and transplants that sit and sulk instead of taking off. Damage heaviest in warm, dry weather and along the edge of a bed nearest weedy ground or last year's crop debris. On root crops, shallow narrow grooves or channels scarring the skin at harvest, from larvae feeding underground.
Row cover and healthy fast growth carry most crops through, and on an established plant the damage is usually cosmetic and needs nothing at all. Where a young planting is genuinely being stripped, kaolin clay coats the leaves and deters feeding, and spinosad will knock the beetles back. Spinosad is acutely toxic to bees while the spray is still wet - apply it at dusk when bees are not flying, never onto plants in flower, and follow the product label. Anything you spray must be labeled for the plant you are treating, and you must observe its pre-harvest interval on a crop you are picking. Yellow sticky traps are useful for telling you when the beetles have arrived. Where the damage falls on the part you eat, harvesting young often beats them outright; where you are growing for a root or a fruit, leaf damage can simply be tolerated. Larvae feeding underground cannot be reached by a foliar spray, so rotation and clean beds are what work against those.
Floating row cover or fine insect mesh, laid over the bed from the day of sowing or transplanting and sealed at the edges so nothing can walk in underneath, is the single best defense - and on the crops they favor it is close to essential. Leave it on until plants are large and growing strongly, or until flowering on anything that needs pollinating. Push growth: a well-watered, unchecked plant outgrows the damage, so the whole game is getting seedlings through their vulnerable weeks fast. Keep beds weed-free, since related weeds host the beetles alongside your crop, and clear crop debris at the end of the season where the adults overwinter. Rotate away from a bed that grew a related crop last year. Where you can, shift sowing dates - cooler-season and fall plantings often miss the peak of adult feeding entirely.
Flea beetles are tiny dark beetles - often shiny black or bronze, rarely more than a couple of millimeters long - with enlarged back legs that let them spring away like fleas the moment you lean in. The adults chew countless small round pits and shot-holes through leaves, giving the foliage a peppered, buckshot-riddled look. They overwinter as adults in leaf litter, hedgerows, and crop debris, emerge hungry in spring, and are worst in warm dry spells. The damage is mostly a seedling and transplant problem: a small plant with a few leaves can be checked, stunted, or killed outright, while the same plant shrugs them off once it is large and growing strongly. Different species specialize on different plant families, so the beetles hammering your brassicas are not the ones on your nightshades. Some species also have larvae that feed on roots and tubers underground.
Cabbage Worms & LoopersSeverity Low PestSeason: Jun–SepRagged holes in the leaves, dark-green frass in the crown, and green caterpillars that match the leaf and hide along midribs and leaf undersides.
The part you eat is underground, so on rutabaga this is mostly cosmetic - roots keep sizing up through moderate leaf damage and rarely need any treatment. It matters if defoliation gets heavy during the long fall bulking stretch, or if you are also cutting the tops for greens.
Ragged holes in the leaves, dark-green frass in the crown, and green caterpillars that match the leaf and hide along midribs and leaf undersides. White butterflies fluttering low over the bed mean eggs are going down now - look under the leaves for the small pale-yellow eggs, laid one at a time rather than in clusters.
Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki) is the one to reach for first: it affects only caterpillars and is safe around bees, parasitic wasps, and hoverflies. Spinosad also works, but it is not caterpillar-specific - while the spray is still wet it is toxic to bees and to the parasitic wasps that hunt cabbage worms for you. If you use it, spray at dusk so it dries before bees are out, and never wet open flowers, including flowering companions like dill or nasturtium. Follow the label for both. On a small planting, hand-picking and rubbing off eggs is enough on its own.
Floating row cover from sowing or transplant is the near-complete fix - it stops the adults ever laying. Seal it at the soil edges and lift it only to weed or harvest. Otherwise check leaf undersides twice a week, rub off the eggs, and hand-pick the caterpillars. Let dill, cilantro, or other umbels flower nearby to feed the parasitic wasps that do this work for you.
The brassica caterpillar complex: velvety green imported cabbageworms (larvae of the white cabbage butterfly) and inch-worming cabbage loopers (a moth larva). Both chew large ragged holes through the leaves, then work into whatever folds up at the center - head, curd, sprout, or growing crown - fouling it with green pellet droppings. Fast leaf crops are usually cut before the damage matters; slow heading crops suffer most. Nasturtium carries the same mustard-oil chemistry that cues the butterflies to lay, so it hosts them too and is often planted nearby as a decoy.
Good & bad neighbors
Plant nearby
- Traditional pairings, thin evidence
-
Legumes fix nitrogen and share the bed well before rutabaga fills out; a traditional, low-competition pairing.
-
Grown as a trap crop to draw aphids and some flea beetles away from the brassica bed.
-
The allium scent is traditionally credited with helping deter the root maggot flies and other pests that trouble brassica roots like rutabaga.
-
Nitrogen-fixing peas grown earlier in the season enrich the soil for the summer-sown rutabaga that follows; a good rotation partner.
Keep apart
-
Same family (Brassicaceae): planting rutabaga with other brassicas concentrates shared pests (flea beetles, root maggots, cabbage worms) and soil diseases like clubroot. Rotate them apart, don't bed them together.
-
A close brassica relative sharing every rutabaga pest and disease; grouping them worsens clubroot and root-maggot buildup - separate and rotate.
- Traditional pairings, thin evidence
-
Another brassica that shares rutabaga's pests and clubroot; keep it in a different bed and rotation slot.
Varieties · 6
You pick one when you add Rutabaga to your garden. Its days to maturity set your harvest window.
American Purple Top
The classic garden and market rutabaga: large, globe-shaped roots with purple-red shoulders above and creamy-yellow below, and sweet, fine-grained yellow flesh that stores for months.
Variety details for American Purple Top
Round roots, purple-red on top fading to buff-yellow, with golden-yellow flesh.
purple-topyellow-fleshheirloomstorageThe open-pollinated standard and the one to grow first.
Laurentian
A refined, uniform purple-top type long favored for its smooth, well-shaped roots, mild sweet flavor, and excellent storage - a dependable improvement on American Purple Top and a market grower's staple.
Variety details for Laurentian
Uniform round-to-oval roots, purple shoulders over pale yellow, fine yellow flesh.
purple-topyellow-fleshuniformstorageJoan
A smooth-skinned, early-maturing purple-top rutabaga with reliably round, uniform roots and sweet mild flesh; its quicker maturity and clean skin make it a favorite for home gardens and a good choice for shorter seasons.
Variety details for Joan
Smooth, round, uniform roots with purple crowns and sweet yellow flesh.
purple-topyellow-fleshearlysmoothHelenor
A vigorous modern purple-top variety with good uniformity and useful disease tolerance (including some resistance to clubroot and mildew) - a strong pick where those problems recur.
Variety details for Helenor
Round, purple-topped roots with rich yellow, sweet flesh.
purple-topyellow-fleshdisease-resistantResists Clubroot (some tolerance), Mildew
Sweet, deep-yellow flesh and good storage.
Gilfeather
A famous Vermont heirloom, long grown, sold, and eaten as a rutabaga, with white flesh and creamy skin, prized for its exceptionally mild, sweet flavor and tender leaves for greens.
Variety details for Gilfeather
Roundish white-fleshed roots with green-and-white skin and abundant tender tops.
white-fleshheirloommildgreensEarlier and milder than the purple-tops. One thing to know if you save seed: genetically Gilfeather is a turnip, Brassica rapa, not the Brassica napus the rest of this page describes - so isolate it from turnips, napa cabbage, bok choy, and other B. rapa rather than from canola and Siberian kale.
Nadmorska
A hardy Polish heirloom purple-top rutabaga valued for cold tolerance, sweet dense flesh, and outstanding long-term storage - a reliable keeper bred for northern climates.
Variety details for Nadmorska
Large round roots, purple shoulders over yellow, with firm deep-yellow flesh.
purple-topyellow-fleshheirloomlong-storage
Grower tips
Notes from growers, tagged with the zone they grow in. A person reads every post before it appears.
Nobody has posted about Rutabaga yet. The first one usually saves someone a season.
Free account. Your post shows your grower name and zone, never your email.