How to Grow Rutabaga
Rutabaga At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Vegetable
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Hardy
Cold Hardiness
Survives to -10°C
Plant Family
Brassicaceae
Growing Season
Cool Season
Plant Lifecycle
Biennial
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Rutabaga needs a long season and tastes best when it finishes in cool fall weather, so sow it about 95 days before your first fall frost, which is usually early summer. Sow seeds 1.5 cm deep in a row, and thin them (pull the extras so each has room) to 20 cm apart once they have a few leaves. They sprout in 5 to 10 days. Rutabaga does not like being moved, so always sow it right where it will grow.
Rutabaga is a big, hardy root that stores for months, and a light frost or two before harvest makes it sweeter. It is an easy crop for a beginner as long as it gets steady water.
When To Start
Rutabaga likes cool weather. Sow it in early spring, as soon as the ground can be worked.
We do not have exact sowing dates for this one yet.
When should you plant Rutabaga?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Rutabaga Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Rutabaga Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Sow rutabaga now for a fall harvest
95 days before your first frost
Pull rutabaga after a light frost or two
1 week after your first frost
Did you water your rutabaga seedlings today? Keep the top of the soil damp until they are up and growing.
About 1 days after you plant it
Time to thin the rutabaga seedlings: snip the extras at soil level so each one has room to grow.
About 20 days after you plant it
Your rutabaga is growing! Thin the plants to about 20 cm apart so the roots have room to swell.
About 42 days after you plant it
Your rutabagas are coming along! They taste sweetest after a light frost, so there is no rush.
About 73 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your rutabaga.
About 95 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Rutabaga's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 5–10 days
Growing Tips
- 1Grow rutabaga in full sun, at least 6 hours a day.
- 2Loosen the soil deeply and mix in compost, so the roots can swell smooth and round.
- 3Water evenly, about once a week, since dry spells make the roots woody and cracked.
- 4Feed with a little compost tea once a month, but skip rich manure, which grows leaves instead of roots.
- 5Keep the row free of weeds while the plants are small.
- 6Cover seedlings with row cover right after sowing to keep off flea beetles (tiny jumping bugs that riddle leaves with holes) and the flies whose grubs tunnel into roots.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~95
Days to Maturity
35 cm
Mature Height
25 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
21 days
When to Pick
Lift in autumn after a light frost or two; ~90 to 100 days
How to Harvest
- 1Harvest rutabaga in fall once the roots are 10 to 13 cm across, ideally after a light frost or two for the sweetest flavour.
- 2Loosen the soil with a fork and pull the root out by the base of the leaves.
- 3Twist or cut off the leaves, leaving 2 to 3 cm of stem, and trim the long root at the bottom.
- 4Bring them all in before the ground freezes hard.
- 5Store them unwashed in a cool, damp place, like a fridge drawer or a box of damp sand in a cold room, where they keep for months.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Rutabaga is biennial and only flowers in its second year. In fall, store a few of your best roots in damp sand somewhere cold but above freezing, then replant them in spring. It crosses with other rutabagas, Siberian kale and canola, which are the same kind of plant, and sometimes with turnips, so keep other kinds in flower about 800 m away and let at least 6 plants flower together. Hybrid F1 seeds will not grow true, so save only from a variety that is not a hybrid. When most pods are dry and brown, cut the stalks, dry them in a paper bag, crush the pods and pick out the small round seeds. Store them labelled in a cool, dark, dry place, where they keep about 5 years.
Seed Production
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