Vegetable · Brassicaceae
When to plant swedes
Sown in early summer for autumn and winter lifting, unlike almost every other root. An early sowing bolts or goes woody.
Sow direct
10 weeks after
Counted from your last spring frost.
Days to maturity
90-120
From sowing to a first picking.
Frost tolerance
Very hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make swedes plantable anywhere.
- Sow direct 10 weeks after the last frost.
- Expect 90–120 days to maturity, counted from sowing.
Getting the timing right
Sow direct about ten weeks after the last frost, aiming to mature into cool autumn weather. Thin ruthlessly - crowded swedes stay small.
Frost tolerance
Very hardy, taking -10C in the ground, and sweeter after frost. Can be left in the soil and lifted through winter in most climates.
Classified as very-hardy, with damage expected below -10°C (14°F)14°F (-10°C).