Swede

01 About

One of the most dependable winter roots. Swede is sown from late spring into early summer, is ready to lift from early autumn, and with a little cover the roots can wait in the ground well into winter.

02 What to Grow

Most swede varieties share the classic purple-bronze top and creamy yellow flesh, but there are differences in disease resistance, flavour, and cold hardiness. Where clubroot is a worry, Invitation, Marian, Gowrie and Tweed all show some resistance to it. Gowrie and Brora are both noted for their flavour, and Gowrie and Magres for standing up well to winter. Marian has a nutty taste and also resists powdery mildew.

03 Varieties

The number of varieties shown for each crop is based on UK consumption data (2025/26) — the more popular the crop, the more variety choices we include.

🟣 Classic UK Varieties

Dependable garden swedes — easy to grow and good keepers.

Marian

Purple-top · Seed

A garden favourite: purple-skinned roots whose yellow flesh has a nutty taste. It resists both clubroot and powdery mildew. Well suited to UK autumn and winter harvesting.

• Beginners

Best of All

Traditional · Seed

A hardy, easy variety giving medium-sized roots with purple skins and deep yellow flesh of mild flavour. Dependable winter crops.

• Heritage
• Long Storage

Ruby

Sweet · Seed

Round roots with very dark purple skin and cream-yellow flesh. Holds up well in winter and resists powdery mildew.

• ⭐ Flavour

Helenor

Maincrop · Seed

A large maincrop swede: the skin is a deep red and the flesh yellow and sweet. Spring sowings are usually ready to lift from October; stores well.

• Long Storage

🏆 Proven Varieties

Gowrie and Brora hold the RHS Award of Garden Merit and perform consistently well in UK growing conditions.

Gowrie

Winter hardy · Seed

A purple-skinned swede of excellent flavour that stands hard winters well and keeps in good condition in the ground for a long time. Strongly resists powdery mildew and has some resistance to clubroot.

• AGM
• Long Storage
• ⭐ Flavour

Brora

Culinary · Seed

A fine-flavoured swede with reddish-purple skin and creamy yellow flesh. Bred for eating quality, stores well, useful for late autumn harvests.

• AGM
• ⭐ Flavour
• Long Storage

Tweed F1

F1 hybrid · Seed

A vigorous, even F1 hybrid. Neat, round roots with purple shoulders and smooth cream flesh, plus some resistance to clubroot.

• F1
• Long Storage

🛡️ Disease Resistant

Varieties chosen for resistance to clubroot or mildew.

Invitation

Clubroot resistant · Seed

A good choice where clubroot has been a problem. Even, round, purple-skinned roots with yellow flesh. It resists clubroot as well as powdery mildew, and stands winter well.

• Beginners

Magres

Maincrop · Seed

Purple-skinned, yellow-fleshed roots of a good, even shape, with a pleasant taste and no bitterness. Copes very well with winter, resists mildew, and stores well after lifting.

• AGM
• Long Storage

04 Where to Source

Swede is always grown from seed, available from garden centres and online. Choose clubroot-resistant varieties such as Invitation or Marian if brassica disease has been a problem in your garden.

📬 Seeds by Post

Online seed companies offer the best range of swede varieties — including clubroot-resistant varieties and purple-topped modern types. Order from January. Seed is inexpensive and germinates reliably — buy several varieties to compare.

🏪 Garden Centres

Garden centres stock reliable standard varieties — Marian and Invitation are widely available from February onwards. A good option for an immediate start, particularly if clubroot resistance is needed.

05 Planting Options

🌱 Open Ground

In open ground swede is sown direct from April to June, with May the main month. Sow thinly in 2cm drills, 38cm apart. Thin progressively — first to about 8cm, then to the final 20–25cm spacing as plants establish. Swede is a slow-growing crop that occupies the ground from late spring right through winter. Keep the bed weed-free in the early weeks while plants are small — they are slow to establish and easily overwhelmed.

Suitable varieties: All varieties. Marian, Invitation, and Gowrie perform well in open ground across all UK regions. Choose clubroot-resistant types on heavier, wetter soils.

🪵 Raised Bed

Swede can be grown in raised beds where the soil is free-draining and deep. The loose growing medium reduces compaction around the developing root. Sow and thin as for open ground. Raised beds on heavy clay sites dramatically improve drainage — a significant advantage as swede rots in waterlogged conditions. Ensure the bed is at least 30cm deep.

Suitable varieties: All varieties. Particularly useful on clay or poorly drained sites where open ground swede regularly fails.

🏠 Greenhouse / Module Start

Module-sowing in a cool greenhouse in April gives swede a head start of a few weeks — particularly useful in Scotland and Northern England where the growing season is short. Sow 2 seeds per deep module at 12–15°C and remove the weaker seedling. Harden the young plants off and set them out in late May or June, before the main taproot starts to form. Handle the taproot carefully — disturbing it causes forking. Raising them in modules keeps root disturbance at planting out to a minimum.

Suitable varieties: All varieties. Particularly recommended for northern regions where the short season limits outdoor direct-sowing to a narrow window.

06 Companion Planting

✅ Grow nearby

• 

  🫛 Peas

  Peas fix nitrogen in the soil that benefits subsequent brassica crops including swedes. Growing peas before swedes in the rotation improves soil fertility naturally.

• 

  🌸 Nasturtiums

  Nasturtiums at the bed perimeter act as a trap crop for aphids and help deter cabbage white butterflies from laying eggs on nearby brassica crops including swedes.

❌ Keep apart

• 🥦 Other Brassicas — Swede is a brassica — never follow or plant beside cabbage, turnip, kale, or cauliflower in the same season. Rotate the whole brassica family together to prevent clubroot.

07 Sowing — How To

Swede is sown direct between late spring and early summer. May is the main month; sowings made very early can bolt, so cover any April sowing with fleece or cloches. It is a slow crop, taking up to about six months to reach full size. It is hardy, but roots left in the ground over winter are best covered with straw or fleece.

1. 

   Drill the row

   Draw drills 2cm deep, 38cm apart. Swede needs more space than turnip. A well-prepared, firm seedbed gives the best results — loose, freshly dug soil causes forked roots.

2. 

   Sow the seeds

   Sow seeds thinly along the drill. Swede seed is small and easy to over-sow — thin sowing makes thinning much easier and wastes less seed.

3. 

   First thinning

   Thin to 8cm when seedlings are 5cm tall. Use thinnings as microgreens — the young leaves are edible. Keep the row weed-free at this stage.

4. 

   Final thinning

   When plants are well-established, thin again to 20–25cm apart. Swede needs space to develop a full, round root.

5. 

   Growing on

   Swede needs little attention through summer. Water in dry spells to prevent root splitting. A single midsummer top-dressing of a general fertiliser on poor soils can help.

6. 

   Harvest

   Lift from early autumn, usually once the roots are 10–15cm across, or earlier as baby roots. Swedes can stay put well into winter — cover them with straw or fleece, and where the soil is cold or wet, lift and store them instead.

Regional sowing timing

Region	Sow / plant	Harvest	Notes
Scotland & Far North	May–Jun	Sep–Jan	May is the safest month here — very early sowings can bolt. The long cool season suits swede; cover the roots or lift and store them before hard winter weather · May–Jun
Northern England	May–Jun	Sep–Jan	May to June is the main window — cover any late-April sowing with fleece. Excellent autumn and winter crop in northern gardens · May–Jun
Midlands & Wales	Apr–Jun	Sep–Feb	Sow late April to early June, with fleece over April sowings. A single sowing gives a full autumn and winter crop — no need for succession · Apr–Jun
Ireland & Isle of Man	Apr–Jun	Sep–Feb	May is the main month; April sowings need fleece. Cool Atlantic summers suit swede well — very reliable crop across Ireland · Apr–Jun
South & SE England	Apr–Jun	Sep–Feb	Sow from late April, mainly in May. Summer drought can be an issue — water in dry spells to prevent splitting. Harvest from September · Apr–Jun
South Coast & SW	Apr–Jun	Sep–Mar	May sowings work well, and April ones under fleece. Mild winters mean roots can stay in the ground right through to March if needed · Apr–Jun

08 Using a Propagator

Swede is most commonly direct-sown but can benefit from an indoor module start in a cool greenhouse or unheated propagator, particularly in northern regions where the season is short. Keep temperatures low — swede is a cool-season brassica that germinates best between 10–15°C.

Heated propagator

Set to 12–15°C maximum. Swede germinates readily in cool conditions — in 5–7 days at 15°C. Avoid higher temperatures which produce leggy, over-tender seedlings prone to damping off. Sow into deep root-trainer modules to minimise root disturbance at transplanting.

Standard unheated propagator — A lidded seed tray traps warmth and humidity around germinating seeds without electricity. Performance depends entirely on room temperature — best placed on a warm windowsill and used from March onwards. Replace the lid promptly after watering. Remove it completely the moment seedlings emerge to prevent damping off.

09 Soil Requirements

pH

6.0–7.0

Best

Loam, Clay loam

Tolerates

Sandy loam

Avoid

Acid, Waterlogged

10 Ongoing Care

💧 Watering

Water regularly during dry periods — swedes need consistent moisture throughout their long growing season to develop smooth, even-textured roots. Drought followed by rain causes the roots to split. Mulch around plants to retain moisture during summer.

🌿 Weeding

Keep the bed weed-free, especially in the first 6–8 weeks when swede seedlings are small and slow-growing. Hoe between rows carefully and hand weed close to plants. Swedes left in weedy ground develop poorly and produce misshapen roots.

✂️ Thinning

Once the seedlings are 5–7cm tall, thin them so the plants stand 20–25cm apart. Swedes need more space than turnips to develop their large, characteristic purple-shouldered roots. Overcrowded plants produce small, poorly formed roots.

🫚 Harvesting

Swedes are ready from early autumn — as baby roots after a few weeks, or more usually at 10–15cm across. If you want bigger roots, grow a variety that does not go woody. Before winter, tuck straw or fleece over the roots left in the ground, or put cloches on top. In cold areas or soil that stays wet, dig them up in late autumn and keep them in boxes of moist sand or compost, stored in a shed that stays frost-free.

11 Watch Out For

🐛 Insects & pests

• 🦋 Cabbage Moth Caterpillar — Wilting or collapse of the central growing point of cabbages and Brussels sprouts
• 🦋 Cabbage White Caterpillar — Yellow, ribbed, skittle-shaped eggs in neat clusters on the underside of leaves in summer
• 🐌 Slugs & Snails — Silver slime trails on leaves, soil, and pots — often the first sign before damage is found
• 🐜 Aphids (Blackfly & Greenfly) — Curled, distorted, or stunted growing tips — aphids inject saliva that causes leaf curl to protect them
• 🕊 Pigeons — Brassica leaves stripped to bare ribs from the outside inward — all that remains is the midrib and main veins

🍄 Diseases to watch

• 🥦 Clubroot — Clubroot (Plasmodiophora brassicae) is arguably the most feared soil-borne disease in UK kitchen gardens. It persists in the soil as resting spores for up to 20 years — meaning a bed that becomes infected is effectively lost for brassica growing for two decades without extraordinary intervention. Crop rotation is the most critical preventive measure.
• 🔵 Downy Mildew — Downy mildew is caused by oomycetes (water moulds) and is completely unrelated to powdery mildew despite the similar name. It thrives in cool, wet, humid conditions and is most damaging in spring and autumn. Each host plant has its own specific downy mildew species. Lettuce downy mildew can destroy an entire bed within days in the right conditions.
• ⬜ Powdery Mildew — Powdery mildew is caused by a range of related fungi, each specific to its host plant — courgette mildew cannot infect peas, and vice versa. The characteristic white powdery coating on leaf surfaces appears in warm, dry conditions (unlike downy mildew which prefers cool and wet). Rarely kills plants but severely reduces yield and plant vigour.

Full identification and treatment advice is in the Pests and Diseases sections.

12 Storage & Preserving

🌱 Leave in Ground

Swedes can stay where they grew and be lifted as needed until about March. So the soil does not freeze hard, spread straw or bracken about 15cm deep over the row and peg netting or fleece over it. In cold areas or wet soil, lift and store them instead.

🪣 Boxes of Sand

If the ground is needed, or your winters are cold or wet, dig the roots up late in autumn, twist off the leaves and bed them, one layer at a time, in boxes of damp sand or peat-free compost. Keep the boxes in a shed or garage that stays dark, cool and frost-free.

🥄 Mash and Freeze

Boil, mash with butter and freeze in portions. Ready in minutes from frozen — ideal for Burns Night suppers and winter meals.

13 Expert Tips

14 Common Mistakes

15 See Also

• 🌼 Companion Planting
• 🔄 Crop Rotation