How to plant swede

In terms of nutritional and medicinal qualities, swede is similar to turnip, but surpasses it in the amount of mineral salts and carbohydrates. And the amount of vitamin C in it remains unchanged throughout the winter. Growing and caring for swede in the open field is not difficult for any gardener, even a beginner. It is necessary to follow the usual rules of cultivation agrotechnics, and the swede will delight with its tasty and healthy fruits throughout the year.

Origin of swede

Rutabaga (Brassica napobrassica – lat.) is a type of fruit and vegetable crop of the Cabbage genus of the Cruciferous family. The vegetable is a natural hybrid that appeared as a result of the natural crossing of turnips with cabbage. The first scientific description of swede was made in 1620 by the Swiss taxonomist Kaspar Baugin, who noted that it grows wild in Sweden, where it remains popular with the local population to this day.

There is another theory of origin, according to which Siberia is considered the birthplace of swede. Before the introduction of potatoes into the country by Peter I, it was one of the most consumed vegetables. It was from there that the swede was brought to Scandinavia and distributed throughout Europe. Supporters of this theory call the excellent resistance of the vegetable to low temperatures as the main argument.

There are yellow-meat varieties of rutabaga – this is a table vegetable grown by man for his own food. And the white ones are used as livestock feed. General purpose cultivars have also been bred for both purposes.

Where is swede grown

In the Middle Ages, swede was common in the Mediterranean, Scandinavian countries, France. Currently, it is widely grown in Europe: Germany, Sweden, Spain, Finland. In England, there is a national dish that is made from rutabagas with meat. Rutabaga is grown in Canada, Australia, New Zealand.

Recently, interest in planting swede in Our Country has increased. Most of all it is grown in the middle lane and the northwestern part of the country. Using the seedling method, swede is cultivated in the open field and in the more northern regions of the country, where the summer is very short. But in the south, due to the lack of water, which is necessary for the vegetable, the swede is not widely used.

The best varieties of rutabaga

Rutabaga varieties with photos and descriptions help to understand that they differ from each other in terms of root size, resistance to growing and care conditions, ripening time, purpose and yield. There are few domestic varieties of swede. Only 6 of them are included in the State Register of Our Country. All these types of rutabaga have passed the relevant test and are allowed to be planted in open ground in all regions of the country. And moreover, these are the best swede varieties both for the middle lane and for any region of Our Country, thanks to the unpretentiousness of the culture to environmental conditions.

Rutabaga Krasnoselskaya – a mid-season vegetable, the harvest of which can be harvested after 110-120 days from the moment the first sprouts appear. The root crop has an elongated-round shape of a greenish color with a purple tint and a juicy sugary pulp. Its weight ranges from 300 to 600 g. This swede variety is well stored all year round.

Rutabaga varieties Bright dream – early ripening, gives a harvest after 65-70 days. Root crops have an elongated shape with a yellow skin and juicy tasty pulp. The fruits are small, reach a weight of 300-350 g.

Variety Novgorodskaya – the fruit has a juicy, tender flesh of a beige hue. Root crops with a purple color above and light below, rounded-elongated, can grow up to 400 g, winter well, retaining their taste. The fruits are mid-ripening.

Child love – a variety, the technical maturity of which occurs 90-110 days after planting in open ground. Root crops of a rounded shape with a weak brown-green color, with proper care, reach a mass of 350 g. The inner part has a yellowish tint, juicy with a pleasant taste.

Rutabagas Hera – a mid-season variety, the fruits of which reach removable ripeness after 3 months from the moment of the appearance of full sprouts. Root crops with anthocyanin coloring of the peel have a delicate taste and grow up to 300-400 g in weight.

Vereya swede – gives ripe fruits after 3 months after planting in open ground, therefore it is considered a mid-season vegetable. Root crops have a flat-round shape with a red-violet peel. The fruits are relatively small, reaching a weight of 250-300 g.

The following types are also considered popular swede varieties for growing in the Moscow region among gardeners.

Rutabaga swedish – an unpretentious variety with a yellow or red tint of pulp, inferior in taste to the Krasnoselskaya rutabaga. It has large root crops weighing up to 1 kg, gives good yields and preserves its qualities all winter.

Kohalik – mid-season productive variety with fruits that have yellow juicy pulp, pleasant to the taste. Root crops have a light purple color of the upper part and a light – underground part. Reach a mass of 1 kg. Grown as a table vegetable.

Late grade Kuzma – high-yielding variety with a mass of round and cone-shaped fruits up to 1,5 kg. The growing season from the moment of planting is 4-5 months. Resistant to fungal diseases.

Variety Marian – universal, suitable for a table for a person and for livestock feed. It gives high yields of fruits weighing up to 600 g. The vegetable does not require special care, is immune to temperature extremes and is resistant to fungal diseases.

The variety should be chosen according to its purpose, qualities and desired result. Each of the above species has pleasant flavors, is very unpretentious in care. Therefore, gardeners who ventured to plant rutabaga in their open ground are satisfied with the results.

How to sow swede for seedlings

The vegetable is grown in different ways – by sowing seeds immediately on the garden bed and planting seedlings. The second method is most common in the northern and middle regions of Our Country, since the growing season of swede is quite long and a short summer may not be enough for it.

When to plant rutabagas for seedlings

If desired, you can sow in 2-3 terms. The timing of the first planting of swede seeds for seedlings should be calculated so that, with proper care, planting in open ground will be done in 40 days, and the first crop will be ready for harvest in mid-summer. The last planting should be carried out so that the root crops ripened in autumn do not freeze with the onset of cold weather and retain their taste. In the middle zone, the time of the first sowing comes in April.

Soil preparation and containers

For planting rutabaga seedlings, choose deep wooden or plastic boxes, possibly pots, so that the plant can take root freely. The container is filled with a nutrient mixture so that a distance of 2 fingers wide remains to the top. The mixture can be obtained by taking garden soil and adding mineral fertilizers to it, or bought at a store. Some gardeners recommend adding wood ash to the mixture – 1 tbsp. l. per 1 kg. It protects seedlings from diseases and serves as a good source of trace elements for the plant.

Seed preparation

The choice of seeds must be approached responsibly and properly prepared. Seeds are first disinfected in a garlic or manganese solution by putting them in it for an hour. Then washed in clean water and dried. Next, you should germinate them by putting them in a damp cloth for several days. When white sprouts appear, you can plant the seeds in the prepared soil mixture for seedlings.

Seed sowing

Seeds are sown for seedlings about 1,5 months before planting seedlings in open ground. The seeds are immersed in the soil to a depth of 1,0-1,5 cm after 2-3 cm. Before planting, you can mix the seeds with superphosphate and evenly scatter them into boxes with a wet substrate. Top with potting mix and water well.

Seed care

The sown seeds are covered with glass or film and kept at a temperature of about +18⁰C. When the first sprouts appear, the film is removed, and the boxes are transferred to a room with a temperature of 6-7⁰C. When several days have passed after planting, the temperature is raised to 12-13⁰C. Thus, seedlings are hardened. As long as it grows, care consists in watering, loosening, and, if necessary, thinning.

How to plant swede in open ground

Planting can be carried out with pre-prepared seedlings or immediately with seeds. Site selection and soil preparation play a large role in the further growth of rutabagas. The best harvest is obtained on moist loamy soil with moderate sunlight. The most suitable temperature regime is +16…+18⁰C. When the temperature rises, it is important to monitor timely watering.

Planting swede in open ground seedlings

Approximately 2 weeks before planting the seedlings in the garden, they begin to harden them. For this, boxes with seedlings are taken outside for a while. When the sprouts are ready to be quietly on the street during the day, they plant in open ground.

The swede does not require special requirements for the soil. It is better if the land is fertile – sandy, loamy or fertilized with peat compost. It is advisable to prepare the site in the fall: dig it up, adding manure, potassium salt, urea and superphosphate.

Planting seedlings in open ground is carried out in the presence of 4-5 strong leaves in seedlings. Do it like this:

1. Holes are prepared at a distance of 15-18 cm between them in one row, placing the rows half a meter apart from each other.
2. Plentifully spill the wells with water.
3. Seedlings are dipped in a clay mash, set in a hole and dug in so that there is no bare stem left, and at the same time, the root collar is not deep underground.
4. Lightly tamp the ground around the seedling.
5. Again moisten the earth from a watering can.

Growing rutabagas in open ground from seeds

You can also plant rutabaga with seeds directly in open ground. The beds need to be prepared in advance. Seeds are sown in rows to a depth of 2,5 cm. When the first shoots appear, thinning is done, leaving 4 cm between the shoots. After germination of 4-5 strong leaves, a second thinning is done so that 15-20 cm remains between plantings.

There is another way to grow from seeds in open ground – winter planting. Sowing is carried out in late autumn, when the ground begins to freeze slightly. The site is dug up in advance, fertilizers are applied, holes are made, sand is poured onto the bottom of which, 2 swede seeds are placed, sprinkled with sand and humus so that the seeds are at a depth of 2,5 cm.

How to grow rutabaga outdoors

Growing rutabagas is easy. As a rule, it gives good yields on any open ground and in any weather. Rutabaga does not like acidic soils that can be neutralized. When planting, you should take into account the rules of crop rotation.

The best soil for rutabaga is considered to be the soil on which legumes, nightshade, pumpkin crops grew before it. You should not plant swede in those areas where relatives of this crop have grown: turnip, radish, cabbage.

In order to grow a decent harvest, planting and caring for rutabaga in the open field must be carried out, observing the standard set of agrotechnical rules for growing horticultural crops, namely:

• timely watering;
• applying the necessary fertilizers;
• weeding and loosening the soil;
• measures to protect against diseases and pests.

All this is familiar to any gardener and does not pose any difficulties.

Watering and top dressing

Rutabaga refers to moisture-loving plants. If there is not enough water, then the root crop will grow hard and will be bitter. Too much water will make it watery and tasteless. Therefore, swedes are watered 3-5 times from the moment they are planted in open ground, taking into account weather conditions.

When watering, it is advisable to use a nozzle so that a strong stream of water does not expose the root, which will turn green from this and lose its qualities. One bucket of water is enough for 1 sq. m plot.

Top dressing with fertilizers is carried out twice after planting in the garden:

1. After two weeks, the sprouts are watered with slurry.
2. At the beginning of the formation of the root crop, top dressing is done with mineral fertilizers.

Loosening and hilling

An obligatory point in the technology of rutabaga cultivation is loosening the soil, hilling bushes and weeding. The first time loosening is carried out immediately after planting seedlings.

These actions enrich the soil layer with oxygen, improve soil heating by the sun, stimulate plant growth, and help fight weeds and pests. In total, about 5-6 loosenings are done per season immediately after watering.

Protection against diseases and pests

Rutabaga is a relative of turnips, radishes and all types of cabbage. Therefore, the diseases and pests to which these crops are susceptible are the same.

Of the diseases, the most common:

• blackleg;
• felt disease;
• mosaic.

From pests:

• cruciferous flea;
• Bugs;
• aphid;
• spring cabbage fly;
• sprout fly;
• slugs.

After planting the seedlings on the beds, for prevention against the attack of the cruciferous flea, the plants are pollinated with wood ash or sprinkled with fine lime. The use of insecticides and fungicides is standard.

To reduce the possibility of rutabaga being affected by diseases and pests, some agrotechnical care measures should be taken:

• observe the rules of planting and crop rotation, do not plant rutabaga in the area where related crops used to grow;
• treat the seeds before sowing them to exclude the occurrence of the disease;
• regularly remove weeds that weaken vegetable plantings;
• in the fall, after harvesting, remove all plant debris from the site so that they do not become a wintering ground for pests;
• dig up the soil for the winter, destroying the laid eggs of insects and their larvae.

Turnip yield

The main conditions for obtaining a good crop of rutabaga is the presence of moist soil and the absence of drought. The vegetable also responds gratefully to fertilizing with organic fertilizers after planting in open ground.

Harvesting can be carried out when the root crops have reached a diameter of 5-6 cm. It is not recommended to overgrow the swede, as the pulp will lose its tenderness. Different varieties can have different yields:

• Krasnoselskaya – from 4,4 to 5,2 kg / m²;
• Bright dream – from 2,5 to 3,5 kg / m²;
• Novgorod – 4-4,5 kg / m²;
• Children’s love – 5,8-6,2 kg / m²;
• Gera – 4,5 kg per m²;
• Heather – 3,5-4,0 kg from 1 m².

Under favorable conditions in central Our Country, you can remove up to 8 kg of vegetables from 1 m² of the earth.

Storage of rutabagas for the winter

For storage for the winter, swede root crops begin to be dug up in early September and finished before the onset of the first frost. The fruits are carefully dug up so as not to damage them, dried well in a ventilated place. Separate cracked and damaged fruits. They are not suitable for storage, they are best consumed immediately.

Rutabagas can be safely stored for several months without losing their nutritional and taste qualities at temperatures from 0 to +4⁰C, packed in boxes and sprinkled with sand. It can be laid out on shelves in an unheated room (basement, cellar) or placed in excavated earthen trenches, sprinkled with sawdust and dry grass, sprinkled with earth on top.

Recently, gardeners have been storing rutabaga in plastic bags and consider this method to be successful. Under such conditions, the concentration of carbon dioxide and the humidity required for storage increase.

Conclusion

Since rutabaga is not widely popular with gardeners, it may seem that growing and caring for rutabaga in the open field is something special. Actually it is not. The same agrotechnical rules for planting and a little attention to care that are used for related crops: cabbage, turnip, turnip. And the vegetable can be consumed all year round fresh or stewed in various dishes.