Lawes American purple top swede
Brassica napus
Last edited by shiny on November 09, 2026. View history
Rutabaga
Brassica napus Napobrassica group
Brassica napus var. napobrassica
Brassica napobrassica
Also known as
swede (EN)
Swedish turnip (EN)
turnip (EN)
yellow turnip (EN)
neep (EN)
A variety of Brassica
How to sow rutabaga: Direct seed, thin to 15cm when seedlings at 5cm tall
Sun requirement for rutabaga: Plant in Full Sun
Often confused with turnips, the rutabaga is a root vegetable that is a cross between the cabbage and the turnip. The root has a roughly globular shape, thick purple-tinged yellow skin (which is sometimes sealed in wax after harvest to extend storage life), and yellow flesh. The flesh is slightly sweet and bitter, similar to cabbage. Rutabagas are slightly larger than turnips and more cold-tolerant. Although edible, the tops are not often eaten. The roots can be baked, boiled, and roasted.
- 4
- plantings
- 0
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Rutabaga facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
Height × spread
35cm × 17cmRow Spacing
15cm
Optimal temperature
14–24 °C
Absolute temperature
5–35 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
700–1000 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
300–1700 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
5.5–7
Absolute soil pH
4.8–7.8
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
180–180 days
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
very bright to cloudy skies
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For rutabaga, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 180 days at its best temperature, about 2520 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your rutabaga will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
How members grow rutabaga
Sunniness
Loading...
Planted from
Loading...
Varieties of rutabaga
Photos
Photos
Rutabaga crops
Rutabaga harvests
Video
Where rutabaga grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about rutabaga
Nobody has posted about rutabaga yet.
Sign in or sign up to post your tips and experiences growing rutabaga.
Who's planted rutabaga
- corvi Root Garden · salt spring island
- kavita QAPP · Seattle, WA
- duck_duck_chicken Garden · Turners Falls, MA
corvi
Rutabaga harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your rutabaga harvests.Find rutabaga seeds
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 180 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Brassica napus var. napobrassica (L.) Reichb.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Dilleniidae Capparales Cruciferae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -1 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual, biennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about rutabaga
Resources outside Growstuff.
