Rules for growing from seeds and caring for rutabaga in open ground, what to plant with and when to sow

Rutabaga is a food crop from the cruciferous family that grows for two years. In some parts of the country, the root crop is called bushma, zemlyunha, bukhva, kalivka or Swedish turnip. Some even call fodder beet, due to the strong similarity of the plants. Experienced gardeners know that rutabaga is a healthy product, but growing and caring for it in open ground requires certain knowledge. More on this later.

Features and characteristics of rutabaga

A distinctive feature of this root crop is frost resistance and excellent drought tolerance. Radishes, horseradish, turnips, radishes and cabbages of all varieties are plants from the same family as rutabaga. As you know, the earthen grass grows for 2 years; in the first 12 months, the roots and leaves grow, then the plant blooms and produces seeds.

The stem base grows high, and due to its weight, the leaf blades often droop. Part of the root crop is above the ground and has a plum tint. Inflorescences are yellow. The shape of the fruit depends on the type of vegetable; usually the pod is oblong or looks like a flat oval or cylinder. Round brown seeds ripen inside the rutabaga. The core of the fruit, depending on the type, has a white or yellowish tint.

Fans of this plant find similarities in its taste with turnips. However, it is useful to know that rutabaga is much healthier and more nutritious.

Review of Russian rutabaga varieties

Experts divide the varieties of this vegetable into fodder and table varieties. Fodder greenfinch is a hybrid. It tolerates cold and moisture deficiency well, is unpretentious in care and has a rich harvest. A special feature of the table varieties of the root vegetable is the flat-round shape of the fruit, as well as the juicy yellowish pulp. Popular varieties of table rutabaga in Russia are:

1. Krasnoselskaya - stores well and is distinguished by its yield. It ripens within three to four months, the weight of the root crop varies from 400 to 600 grams.
2. Novgorodskaya is a ripening time of medium duration. The fruits are well stored and weigh from 500 to 450 grams.
3. Children's Love is a mid-early variety, the root shape is oval-round. The harvest weighs from 300 to 450 grams.
4. Vereiskaya is a mid-season species, reaching full maturity in 85-95 days. The fruits reach a weight of 250-300 grams.
5. Hera is also a mid-season species, the fruits are round in shape and anthocyanin in color. The weight of the root crop is no more than 400 grams.
6. Bright Dream is the fastest ripening among Russian varieties, ripening in 2-2.5 months. The peel of the fruit has a yellow tint and has an elongated shape. On average, ripe rutabaga weighs from 300 to 400 grams.

Possible combinations with other plants

Next to the fodder beets, you can plant varieties of lettuce, sage, wormwood bushes or mint in the same bed. It will be useful to plant marigolds or marigolds - they will not only please the eye, but will also repel pests from the vegetable plant.

Carrots, dill or celery, on the contrary, will attract insects that actively hunt pests.

It is not recommended to plant rutabaga in a bed where cabbage, radishes or other similar crops were grown the previous year.

Growing rutabaga from seeds

Every experienced gardener knows how to grow a good harvest of rutabaga. Amateurs need to follow certain recommendations.

Sowing

First you need to sow the seeds for seedlings. When they sprout indoors, the shoots are protected from attack by pests, in particular the cruciferous flea beetle. Before sowing, it is necessary to disinfect the seeds; to do this, they are kept in a solution with garlic for 60 minutes. Then the seeds must be washed in plain water and dried.

Fodder beets are sown from the first days of April, and after 40 days the grown Swedish turnips are planted on the soil. To do this, you will need deep boxes with a damp substrate.The sprouts are placed at a depth of approximately 1 centimeter.

The distance between seeds must be maintained within 2 centimeters and 5-7 centimeters between rows. The optimal temperature for good germination is 17-19 degrees Celsius.

Seedling care

After the first shoots of the sown crop appear, the covering on the boxes, which created the greenhouse effect, must be removed. And move the containers where the seedlings grow to a cool place, with an average temperature of 6-9 degrees Celsius. After 7 days the temperature should reach 15 degrees. The key to successfully growing rutabaga seedlings is to moisten the soil, loosen and thin out the sprouts.

How to dive

Conduct picking for fodder beet not recommended, as there is a high probability of damage to fragile roots. To do this, experts advise using deep containers for germinating seeds.

To prepare seedlings for planting in open ground, 10 days before transplanting, boxes with seedlings must be taken out into the yard, gradually adding more time. When the duration of the young rutabaga's stay in the fresh air reaches 24 hours, it is time to plant it in open soil.

Planting rutabaga in open ground

The presence of 4-5 sufficiently formed leaves on sprouted seedlings indicates that the time has come to plant the earthenberry in open soil. It is necessary to pay attention to the weather: if a vegetable plant is grown in a country house, in a region with a temperate climate, planting is carried out after May 20. Before planting, the sprouts are watered abundantly.

Landing dates

Basically, fodder beet seedlings are planted 40-50 days after sowing, in the spring - this is mid or late May.

The ripening time of a vegetable plant depends on the variety.For winter crop storage, it is recommended to plant those types of rutabaga that have a long growing season.

Suitable soil

Earthwort is planted on neutral soil, the pH of which does not exceed 7.0. Rutabaga grows well in sandy, loamy or peaty fertile soil. An important point is the high moisture permeability of the soil in the garden bed.

The best predecessors at the future site for planting fodder beets are:

1. Tomatoes and cucumbers.
2. Beans, peppers.
3. Melon and eggplant.
4. Zucchini or potatoes.

Attention! After harvesting crops related to rutabaga, fodder beets can only be planted after 5 years.

Planting pattern and depth

Sprouts ready for planting are planted in the holes. It is necessary to maintain a certain distance between the seedlings so that the ripe fruits do not interfere with each other. The distance between holes is 0.2 meters, and between rows is 50 centimeters.

Before planting, the holes are filled with water, and each sprout is soaked with a root in a clay mash, after which several leaves should be cut off. When digging holes, make sure that the root part of the sprout stem does not touch the ground. The final stage of planting on the site is to lightly compact the soil around the plant and fill the seedling with water.

In the first days, it is recommended to protect young rutabaga from sun exposure.

Specifics of caring for rutabaga

Growing Swedish turnips is not difficult. You need to care for the plant in the same way as other crops - water, get rid of weeds, hill up, feed and protect from troubles. It is recommended to hill up grown bushes when the leaf blades are setting.

The soil is loosened to a depth of 5-8 centimeters. Before the procedure, the soil must be moistened.

The bushes are first loosened 48 hours after planting in the garden bed.The next time it happens is a week later. During the entire period of crop maturation, soil loosening is carried out no more than 5 times. To make it easier, it is recommended to carry out the procedure simultaneously with removing weeds.

Irrigation regime and maintaining soil moisture

This vegetable plant ripens well when given plenty of moisture, but overwatering will cause the fruit to become watery. Experts recommend moistening rutabaga bushes 5-6 times during the entire ripening period. Otherwise, when there is not enough water, the root crop will ripen with a hard core and a bitter taste. Early flowering is also possible.

The required volume of water for irrigation is a bucket per square meter of land. It is not recommended to pour too much water on the top part of the vegetable, which is above the ground. This leads to greenness and negatively affects the nutritional value of the vegetable plant.

To maintain moisture at a sufficient level, rutabaga is mulched. Suitable for mulch:

1. Cut nettle.
2. Compost.
3. Straw cutting.
4. Composting from sawdust.
5. Cut leaves and tomato shoots.

Temperature

As for the temperature regime, we can say that rutabaga sprouts well at an air temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. For the formation of bushes and ripening of root crops, 15-18 degrees Celsius is suitable. Hot, dry weather negatively affects the yield and taste of fodder beets. Already at temperatures above 23 degrees, the rutabaga pulp will become dry and tasteless.

Fertilizer application

An integral part of caring for any crop is timely fertilization. The first feeding of young shoots is carried out 12-16 days after planting in the ground. To do this, use a large amount of slurry.For the next feeding, a complex of minerals is suitable; the procedure is carried out at the moment of root crop formation. Fertilizing with phosphorus will help increase the sugar content of the pulp. Rutabaga bushes are positively affected by fertilizers based on potassium, boron, copper and manganese.

Before planting a vegetable plant, it is recommended to prepare the land for growing rutabaga in advance. To do this, during the autumn months, during digging, you will need to pour half a bucket of manure or humus fertilizer for every 100x100 centimeters of soil.

Protection from diseases and pests

Anyone who decides to grow Swedish turnips in the garden should know that they are susceptible to the same diseases and insect attacks as related crops (radishes, radishes, cabbage varieties, horseradish bushes).

The most common diseases that affect this crop:

1. Felt disease.
2. Belle and black leg.
3. Vascular bacteriosis and mosaic.

Among the pests considered dangerous are: slugs, sprout and cabbage flies, cruciferous and beet bugs, rapeseed beetle, and aphids.

To prevent the occurrence of disease and damage from insects, following the rules of cultivation, disinfecting seeds before sowing in the ground, thorough weeding, and after harvesting, deep digging of the site helps.

Neighboring plants that do not negatively affect the ripening of the fruit will help fight pests, for example, marigolds, nasturtiums, and marigolds drive away whites, cabbage flies and aphids with their aroma.

Harvest and storage

After the sprouted sprouts are planted in the garden, the vegetables ripen within 60-120 days, depending on the type of plant.In cases where fodder beets are planned to be stored for a long winter period, the crop must be harvested before the first frost.

Ripe fruits must be removed from the soil carefully so as not to spoil them. In this case, cut off the bush part of the crop (leaves) close to the base.

After harvesting, the root vegetables must be washed to remove dirt and completely dried, laid out outside, away from sunlight. The washed rutabaga is stored in a cool place, having previously been distributed into containers. If there is no basement or other suitable room, the plant will be well preserved in the garden. To do this, shallow trenches are dug, sawdust or straw is poured into them in a thin layer, then covered with soil.