How to Grow Salad Turnips In Paperpots (Paper Chain Pots)
Growing Salad Turnips in Paperpots
Better germination!
No hand transplanting!
Less transplant shock!
Needing to get in early plantings of salad turnips before the field is warm enough for direct sowing? Use the Paperpot Transplanter! Have clay soil that is staining your salad turnips? Growing them in paper chain pots solves this problem!
“Doing some paperpot transplanting during the shoulder season! The Paperpot Transplanter is extremely valuable this time of the year when the soil is cold and direct seed germination take 3-4x longer. The plants get a good start for 3-4 weeks in a 58F heated nursery before going into the ground. Daylight is at 9:47hrs, but only going up from here! These Hakurei turnips were seeded 12/10 and transplanted 12/24 with two true leaves. Projected harvest is early-mid February in a 34F minimally heated greenhouse, depending on multiple unpredictable factors. Zone 7b.”
Judah Hobbs, Field Manager for Rose Creek Farms, Selmer TN
The Specifications for Paperpot Salad Turnips
| PAPER CHAIN POT | 4" |
| ROWS PER 100’ X 30” BED | 5 |
| TRAYS PER 100’ X 30” BED | 6 |
| KWIK KLIK™ TOP PLATE | Plate: Paperpot (264 holes) / Thickness: 3mm / Hole Diameter: 5mm |
| SEEDS PER CELL | 3-4 |
| SEED PER 100’ X 30’ BED | 16 g (+/-) *Always round up when placing seed orders to ensure having enough |
| RECOMMENDED CULTIVARS | Hakurei |
| GERMINATION | 36 hours at 77°F |
| DAYS TO TRANSPLANT | 21 days (+/-) *time from seeding to transplanting in the field |
| DAYS TO MATURITY | 38 days (+/-) *time from seeding to being ready for harvest |
| HARVEST WINDOW | 14 days (+/-) *time crop is at ideal stage for harvest after reaching maturity |
| TOTAL DAYS IN FIELD | 31 days (+/-) *DTM + harvest window - days to transplant |
| HARVEST UNIT | Bunch, 8-12 per (harvest ideally when “golf ball” size) |
| TARGET CROP YIELD | 220 bunches (+/-) |
| PRICE PER UNIT | $3 *depending on local market pricing |
| REVENUE PER BED | $660 *depending on local market pricing |
| SEEDING | Kwik Klik™ Drop Seeder, Paperpot Germination Trays, Paper Chain Pots |
| TRANSPLANTING | Paperpot Transplanter |
| TILTHING | Power Harrow or Precision Depth Roller (With no tractor: Tither) |
| AERATION | Meadow Creature Broadfork |
| SHAPING | Bed Preparation Rake |
| WEED CONTROL | Flame Weeder |
| CULTIVATION | Flex Tine Weeder or Collinear Hoe |
Suggested Tools for Paperpot Salad Turnips
Bed Preparation for Paperpot Transplanting
- Broadfork the bed to aerate and loosen the soil.
- Smooth and shape the bed with a bed preparation rake, removing any debris.
- If the previous crop was fertilized, Salad Turnips will do fine without reapplication.
- If not, here are two options:
- 1) Layer on 1” of compost, enough to mostly cover the native soil.
- 2) Sprinkle on a combination of alfalfa meal and pelleted chicken manure.
- If layering compost, do not tilth in hopes of smothering any surface weed seed.
- If adding amendments, tilth the top 1-2” of soil to mix in amendments.
- Irrigate for 10-14 days*, allowing any weed seed in the top layer of soil to germinate.
- Flame weed the bed when the cotyledons of the weed seeds have emerged.
Planting Salad Turnips in Paperpots
Seeding Salad Turnips in Paperpots
Prepare trays with 4” paper chain pots, and fill with potting mix.
Install Paperpot bottom plate and specified top plate into Kwik Klik™ (KK) Drop Seeder.
Pour seed onto top plate and rotate until 3-4 seeds fills each hole.
Position the KK Drop Seeder over the tray, ensuring the holes are lined up with the cells, and click to drop the seeds.
Water the trays, then place in a germination chamber for 36 hours at 77° (+/-).
Transfer the trays to greenhouse tables immediately after germination.
Thoroughly water trays before heading to the field for transplanting.
Using the Paperpot Transplanter, plant the five rows of salad turnips.
5 rows on a 30″ bed: 6” between rows, and 3” from the outer rows to the edge of the bed.
Reference https://paperpot.co/learn/ for instructional videos if needed.
Transplanting Salad Turnips with the Paperpot Transplanter
Irrigation
Water the beds thoroughly with overhead irrigation, or four rows of drip.
After the first watering, IMMEDIATELY cover the beds with floating row cover (or insect netting in the warm season). The cover will only come off for cultivation and harvest times. Weigh down the edges with sand bags every 5 feet. This ensures flea beetles will never have a chance to damage the greens.
10-14 days after transplanting, cultivate using a wire weeder or collinear hoe.
Subsequent cultivation should not be needed as canopy of greens should suppress further weed growth.
Make sure to return row cover immediately after cultivation to keep away pests.
Cultivation (Weeding)
Harvesting Salad Turnips
Salad turnips should be harvested with their tops and bunched in the field.
Bunches should consist of 8-12 turnips, with a target size of 1.5-2” per turnip.
Pile the bunches in the paths, and collect all piles in your harvest tote at the end.
Using a Washdown Gun sprayer over a root wash table, spray each bunch while rotating until all soil is thoroughly cleaned off.
Store salad turnips in a refrigerated space at 35° inside a plastic bag or tote to maintain moisture and crispness until going to market.
Washing and Packing
Overall Paper Chain Pots are a great way to increase efficiency for growing Salad Turnips.
Ease of transplanting, higher germination rates, and getting an earlier start in the season are some of the reasons why growing Salad Turnips in paper chain pots makes so much sense.
Get started growing Salad Turnips on your farm using a Paperpot Transplanter and download the Growers Notes below.
INTERESTED IN PURCHASING A PAPERPOT TRANSPLANTER?
If you have any questions, please reach out hello@paperpot.co or 877.850.1555.