Rutabaga is an annual or biennial grown for its root, ready to pull about 90 days after sowing. Season length, not a winter zone, decides where it grows. Its early spring flowers are a moderate draw for honeybees and native bees, even though the root is the prize. As a brassica (the cabbage family), give it a fresh bed each year — away from where its relatives just grew — so the soil-borne pests and diseases of the family never get a foothold.
Rutabaga — the short answer
Rutabaga: grown in zones 2–11, full sun, pH 5.5–8, about 90 days to maturity.
- USDA zones
- Grown as an annual — see the growing season
- Growing season, not a hardiness zone
- Soil pH
- 5.5–8
- FAO ECOCROP
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Growable Ground Plant Database
- Days to Maturity
- 90 days
- Cornell
- Frost-kill temp (growing season)
- 21.2°F
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
Score Rutabaga on your exact land.
Zone averages can't see the slope, soil, frost, and sun that decide whether rutabaga actually takes — and those shift from one yard to the next. Enter your address and we'll score rutabaga against your land's real conditions.
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What Rutabaga is
Rutabaga grows as an annual or biennial and reaches around a foot and a half at maturity. It blooms yellow in early spring.
How to grow Rutabaga
Season length, not a winter zone, decides where rutabaga grows; it is ready to harvest about 90 days after planting. Rutabaga does best in full sun — at least 6 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 5.5 to 8, on well-drained ground. It needs around 1,500 growing degree days to mature and a growing season of at least 85 frost-free days, which is why climate matters as much as soil.
USDA Zones
Grown as an annual — see the growing season
Soil pH
5.5 - 8
FAO ECOCROP
Sun
Full Sun
Growable Ground plant catalog
Drainage
well (dry spells)
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost Kill Temperature
21.2°F
Where cold starts killing growing tissue. Not a winter-survival floor — a dormant perennial takes far colder, which its hardiness zone answers.
Growable Ground Plant Database
Minimum Growing Temperature
41°F
Below this it stops growing rather than dies — a pace limit, not a survival limit.
Growable Ground Plant Database
Days to Maturity
90 days
Rutabaga.
Cornell
GDD Required
1500+
Growing degree-days of accumulated warmth it needs to mature — humid summers reach this faster than cool coastal ones.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Mature Height
1.5 ft
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost-Free Days
85+
The frost-free stretch it needs start to finish — short-season areas may need an indoor head start.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Sow directly
Sow rutabaga seed straight into the bed — root crops germinate fast and resent transplanting. Give them full sun.
Match the soil
Rutabaga prefers pH 5.5 to 8 (FAO ECOCROP). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band.
Water steadily
Keep the root zone evenly moist through establishment. A 2–3 inch mulch layer holds moisture without waterlogging.
Harvest at maturity
Rutabaga is ready about 90 days after sowing (Cornell). Pull while roots are young and tender — sweeter than oversized ones.
Where Rutabaga thrives
Season length, not a winter zone, decides where rutabaga grows. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 2–11 spans average winter lows from -50°F to 50°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers 48 outright and splits 3 more down the middle.
Zones 2–11·Hardiness bandOpen map →
Continental US shown — Alaska and US Pacific territories sit outside the federal map's polygon dataset.
This map is derived from the USDA ARS / PRISM Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023) and is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.
Where Rutabaga stands, state by state
Rutabaga is rated for zones 2–11 — a cold floor USDA puts at -50 to -40°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 48 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 3 more, and 0 sit outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
Fully inside zones 2–11
48 states
3 of 48 shown
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around Rutabaga
Growing guides for rutabaga
In rotation planning, rutabaga counts as a Brassica — beds recover best when brassica crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Related plants in vegetable
Good to know
Rutabaga offers moderate value to bees and other pollinators. (Source: Pollinator Partnership.)
Before you harvest rutabaga, know your soil
Anything you grow to eat takes up what's in the ground it grows in, so it's worth knowing what's documented near you before you plant rutabaga for food. Our free screen reads 8 federal source types across roughly 1.8M indexed sites and shows which sit near your address and which way they drain. It's a screening estimate from public records and proximity — not a soil test — so a nearby record means a soil test is worth it, not that your soil is unsafe.
Your land is one point inside Rutabaga's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if Rutabaga will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your exact soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether rutabaga actually takes — we score it against the real conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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How we know this about Rutabaga
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database•ASPCA
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow Rutabaga in my zone?
Rutabaga is grown as an annual, so a hardiness zone does not decide it — its growing season follows your last and first frost dates. Soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
How long does Rutabaga take to grow?
Rutabaga is ready to harvest about 90 days after planting (Cornell). Your local frost dates and soil temperature move that window earlier or later.
When should you plant Rutabaga?
Most growers plant rutabaga after the last spring frost, once the soil has warmed, leaving enough of the season for its 85-day frost-free need. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does Rutabaga need?
Rutabaga needs full sun — a spot that catches at least 6 hours of direct summer sun a day. In more shade it still grows, but usually gives a smaller, later crop. The catch is that a yard rarely gets even light everywhere — a fence, the house, or one tall tree can quietly take those hours. A Growable Ground report reads the real sun-hours across your land, canopy and buildings included, so you can pick the brightest bed before you plant.
What soil does Rutabaga need?
Rutabaga prefers soil pH 5.5 to 8, on well-drained ground (FAO ECOCROP). Your report scores your parcel's actual soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does Rutabaga attract pollinators?
Yes — rutabaga's flowers are a solid nectar source for honeybees and native bees. (Source: Pollinator Partnership.)
Keep exploring Rutabaga
Rutabaga state by state
Every state rutabaga's zone reaches — 25 link straight to that state's rutabaga growing page; the rest open the state's full growing guide.