Turnip & radish question

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k3n Monroe, WA(Zone 8a) Mar 19, 2010

Does clipping off some or most or all leaves cause more/faster growth of the greens or the root bulb?

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Aquannie Jacksonville, FL(Zone 9a) Mar 20, 2010

I think that is a bad idea as the leaves are needed to process oxygen and sunlight. Just let mother nature take her course and your veggies will be terrific. Root crops are usually very low maintenance; plant the seed, feed, water, and harvest.
You can clip green parts off of bulbing plants after they have withered that you want to store over the winter. That's probably what you were thinking of.

Hope this helps......Annie

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k3n Monroe, WA(Zone 8a) Mar 21, 2010

That is not what I am thinking of. I specifically want to find out if anyone already knows how reducing the foliage affects the plants (causing more root growth or more green growth). Just as different lighting and different plant foods/fertilizers can cause more growth in either the greens or the root or both equally (or is detrimental). In other words, let's say you just cut all greeds off of a turnip and leave the lower 2" of the greens and a healthy green floret (is that what one would call it?) for new growth...will the plant spend a lot of energy on growing greens or dump the energy into root development? I am trying to determine if trimming the greens has a positive affect on accelerated root development. I may experiment on my own, but I figured someone may already know. :-)

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dreaves Hutto, TX(Zone 8b) Mar 21, 2010

Ken,

All the energy for growth is produced in the leaves, then stored in the root. If you clip the leaves, the plant has to grow new leaves, then can begin storing energy. You'd be delaying root growth, since any stored starch in the root would be used to provide energy for the new leaves. If you want to encourage greens, then you can clip the tops to regrow more greens. That will be to the detriment of the root, though.

David

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