What happened to my turnips?

It's obvious that they bolted, but I'm wondering what I did wrong. What did these turnips need that I didn't give them. Why did they end up looking more like a parsnip? These are turnips that came up volunteer in the vegetable garden in the back yard new apartment that we are renting. We inherited the garden and the turnips even though I've not grown them before. We decided to let them grow to see what would happen and this is the result. I'm dissapointed because these don't look very edible or very large.

I think the turnip is a biennial, so this may be the second year when the turnip sets seeds and the plant is just old. I would have thought the roots would have been huge, so that is just a guess on my part. Maybe seed from a hybrid plant?

This message was edited Jun 29, 2013 6:44 PM

I'm wondering if collecting the seeds from these would be viable and if I plant the seeds if I will actually have some large turnips next year.

I don't think they would be worth fooling with. If you want turnips, they are cheap enough to buy good seed of a known variety. Then, if you just want to play around and see what becomes of them and you have room to spare in your garden, go ahead and give them a try. I would not expect to get anything from them though.

This message was edited Jun 29, 2013 6:59 PM

Ah. Maybe I should just pull all these up then and plant lettuce. My guinea pigs would appreciate it and I have lots of lettuce seed.

They are biennial, as Seedfork said. Two other things come to mind --

One, that looks like a cross of some sort. Even if this is second year plants, they should have a turnip-shaped root. Brassicas readily cross and there are many wild ones. I would not save seed from them, but start with fresh, isolated seed, either one bred for roots or greens per your preference, although you can eat both parts from any kind of variety.

Two, it's awfully hot for turnips. I grow them in the fall here. A second spell of warm weather will trigger even first year biennials to go to seed.

I f you inherited them they may be a variety of "greens" turnip like Seven Top, Topper etc. These never develop edible roots.

Ah okay. They smell an awful lot like turnips even if the roots don't look like turnips. The flower is the right shape, but looking at other plants, the leaves looked a little different. It crossed my mind that maybe these were an asian variety or some sort that came from the portuguese people that lived here before us. Anyway, I guess I will pull them. It was an interesting experiment, but kind of a waste of space.

Turnip greens are supposed to be very nutritious. Do you think it'd be safe to eat these? Assuming it isn't crossed with something bad.

Hey, what are guinea pigs are for isn't it?

The other possibility is broccoli raab which is the same species as turnip.

In looking at those pictures those supposed turnips can be alot of things. To me they dont look like turnips...but rather collard greens or oil seed rape(Canola) or a cross that went to seed. Most turnips are lighter green and less blue/grey than what I see in those pictures. Turnip leaves tend to have hairs on them as well and are thinner than what I am seeing in the picture. If the original seed was a hybrid, the progeny of the seed from a hybrid will not be like the hybrid, rather more like one of the two original parents.

I agree with everyone else's assesment that since you arent sure what you have, don't eat it. Get yourself some good seed for next season.

Turnips are biennials...which means they need a warm period followed by a cool period followed by another warm period to set seed. I have had problems with turnips going to seed. One year we had a very warm March and April followed by a very cold May and a hot June and this caused them to go to seed.