India, with its diverse climate, soil, and seasonal produce, gives you an opportunity to explore and experiment with a number of fruits and vegetables right in your backyard. If you love gardening, why are you limiting your backyard to just leaves and flowers? This is your sign to get started with kitchen gardening.
Just imagine waking up to the greens of vegetables and the aroma of fresh fruits planted right in your garden. To start your daily supply of preservative-free and healthy fruits or vegetables, you can start by growing turnips. The winter vegetable is really easy to cultivate, and you don’t need to be an experienced gardener to harvest shalgam healthy.
Soil Requirements
The first step to growing any plant in a home garden is to do some background research on the climate of where you live and the type of seeds that would thrive in the weather conditions. Once you have done that, know that your garden awaits the magic it’s about to witness. So, before you sow the seeds, use well-drained and fertile soil for turnips. Also, maintain a pH between 6.0 and 7.0 for the best growth of the root vegetable.
Sow The Seeds
Once you have prepared the soil as per the conditions favourable to turnips, you can get the shalgam seeds out. Since the seeds are to be directly sown into the soil, you can loosen the soil up to 12 inches, allowing ample space for the roots to grow. Then, sow the seeds about ¼ inch deep into the soil while making sure that each seed is at least 2-3 inches away from the other. Alternatively, if you are planting turnips under your roof, you can use garden trays, and once the plant starts to grow, you can transfer it outdoors.
Water Needs
Turnips, just like every fruit, herb, or vegetable plant, requires regular watering. However, being a root vegetable, you need to make sure that you don’t overwater, which can lead to waterlogging. If the water is logged in the garden beds, the roots, aka, the vegetable, would rot, thus affecting the overall yield of your kitchen garden. A handy tip you can follow while growing root vegetables like shalgam is to add mulch to the soil, which helps retain moisture for a longer period of time.
Regular Pruning
With just these basic tips, you would be able to spot turnip plants growing taller each day. But your job is not limited to regularly adding water and fertilisers. Once you see that the seedlings have grown about 2-3 inches above the ground, that’s the time to thin them out. Whenever you spot a discoloured leaf or thicker bush, you can prune it, leaving just the strongest plants to prevent overcrowding in your home garden.
Protect From Pests
Edible plants like herbs, fruits, and vegetables attract more pests than others. To make sure that your homegrown turnip plant is the least affected by pests or diseases, you can keep adding organic insecticides or neem soap to prevent the entry of pests. Also, to ensure that your shalgam plant is growing healthily and is not diseased, make sure that you keep regular checks for overwatering and overwatering.