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When to plant Turnip

Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.

Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.

Representative timing, by climate band

When to plant Turnip in four US climates

Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.

Stage Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY 		Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN 		Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL 		Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL
Start seed indoors Not available Not available Not available –
Direct-sow outside Apr 8–Apr 22 Mar 10–Mar 24 Jan 27–Feb 10 –
Transplant outside Not available Not available Not available –
Fall planting Aug 11–Sep 8 Sep 4–Oct 2 Nov 3–Dec 1 –
Expected harvest May 28–Jun 21 Apr 29–May 23 Mar 18–Apr 11 –

Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a hardy crop. In climates like this one, hardy and semi-hardy crops typically go in during the cooler months (fall through late winter), not on a frost-relative schedule.

Turnip goes into the ground two to four weeks before your last frost. Colorado State University Extension's hardy-crop rule (Fact Sheet 7.212) states that window directly, and Colorado State and Purdue Extension (HO-186-W) agree exactly on a 40°F minimum soil temperature.

Days to maturity run 50 to 60, combining Colorado State's 50 with NC State's 55 to 60 and Missouri Extension's 50 to 60, a tight cluster with little real disagreement.

Turnip also takes a fall planting, four to eight weeks before your first fall frost, per Purdue's explicit list. Because turnip is hardy, a cold-winter climate can seed it two to four weeks ahead of frost and again into fall without much concern; a mild-winter climate shifts both windows and often supports turnip as most of a winter crop.

Turnip is seed-only at the nursery, sold as seed for both the spring and fall windows above, the same as its relative rutabaga.

Frost hardiness

Hardy. Tolerates hard frost. Can go in the ground before the last frost date.

Minimum soil temperature

40°F

For direct sowing/germination, where an Extension source stated it.

Days to maturity

50–60

Sourcing notes

From direct seed. CSU's hardy rule (2-4wk before frost) used. CSU and PURDUE soil-temp minimums agree exactly at 40F. DTM: CSU 50, NCSU 55-60, MOEXT 50-60 - combined range. Fall figure per PURDUE's explicit list.

Related crops

Growing zones for this crop

Nurseries near these locations

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Sources