Kohlrabi is a biennial cabbage family plant that is also known as German turnip. Kohlrabi is one of the most hardy vegetables you can produce in your yard, and it’s also a tasty way to get more vitamin C, potassium, and fiber into your diet. Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea) comes in a wide range of hybrid and heirloom varieties, each with its own set of features such as flavor, color, size, growing rate, and ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ resistance.
Kohlrabi’s resistant character makes it an easy-to-grow crop in a variety of climes, whether you sow seeds outside or transplant seedlings started indoors.
Choose a planting season that corresponds to your climate zone. Produce a spring crop in milder northern areas by putting seeds outside shortly after the last frost (or start them indoors three to four weeks before the last frost, then transplant them outside).
Kohlrabi can also be planted in mid-summer for a fall crop in milder areas. Plant in the fall for a winter crop in warmer southern regions.
Keep in mind that kohlrabi plants grow in temperatures ranging from 40 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit and develop in 45 to 60 days, so plan ahead depending on where you live.
Select a location that receives sufficient sunlight. Kohlrabi should be grown in full sun with at least six hours of sunlight per day.
If you’re planting in the middle of the summer for a fall crop, a partial shade position is fine because the shade will assist in cooling down your seedlings throughout the hotter summer months.
Check to see if you have the correct soil type. The recommended soil pH for kohlrabi is between 5.5 and 6.8, while slightly more alkaline soil helps keep clubroot ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ at bay. Kohlrabi grows best in fertile, well-drained loamy soil with plenty of organic materials.
Increase the nutrient content of your soil. Improve your soil before planting your kohlrabi by adding aged compost or manure.
Learn how to plant at the right depth and spacing. Sow kohlrabi seeds in rows that are a quarter inch deep and nine to twelve inches apart.
Seedlings transplanted from inside should be spaced five to eight inches apart. If you’re going to plant many rows, space them out two feet apart.
Follow the right maintenance regimen after you’ve successfully planted your kohlrabi to enhance your crop yield. Keep your soil moist at all times.
At least one and a half inches of water each week should be applied evenly to kohlrabi plants. Make sure you don’t overwater your plants. Apply a layer of organic mulch to the area.
Add a layer of organic mulch to the soil once your plants have grown five inches tall to limit weed development, trap moisture, and lower the soil temperature.
Keep an eye out for ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇs. Clubroot ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ, downy mildew, and powdery mildew can all affect kohlrabi. Wilting and yellowing of leaves, as well as deformed roots, are symptoms of clubroot, which can be treated by adding lime to your soil.
Yellow patches and powdery wʜɪᴛe spots are caused by downy mildew and powdery mildew, respectively, and both may be treated with the right fungicide. Kohlrabi is known to be plagued by cabbage worms and cabbage loopers.
Both pests may be controlled with insecticides, but for a more natural solution, try companion planting—thyme, nasturtiums, and onions prevent cabbage worms, while marigolds, daisies, and dill attract helpful insects that ᴅᴇsᴛʀᴏʏ cabbage loopers.
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