[webby139]

Well hello all !!
I have attempted to grow white turnips for the first time this year with mixed results.
I started in small like 2" pots and then thinned out when seedling germinated.
I then transfered into raised bed when large enough.
However, around half are soft and rotten and i've had to dig out and scrap off 
Other's are perfectly fine and can be eaten ?? 
1 thing I noticed what the ones that were rotten had 2 stems and there were 2 turnips joined ( a bit like simese twins - I guess i didnt thin properly)
Has anyone experienced this issue before or have any ideas??

Thanks

[BabbyAnn]

However, around half are soft and rotten and i've had to dig out and scrap off 

when any root tuber goes rotten, my first thought would be pest and disease - a pest doing initial damage (maybe a burrowing insect like cabbage root fly larvae, made worse by something else like woodlice and or slugs), followed on by a disease taking advantage of the wound and infecting it.

[sunshineband]

That's a pretty good description of the process, BabbyAnn.

Webby, have you thought of direct sowing turnips next time? They are one of the few veg that I have some success with like this, as voles etc don't seem keen on the seeds 

[rosiecider]

I have only been growing a couple of years but I find direct sowing ok, the only problms are keeping slugs and flea beetles at bay

[Norfolkgrey]

I am having issues with mould and fungus this year. Most annoyingly I have crown rot in my parsnips - never been an issue the last two years 

[JayG]

If the unthinned turnips trapped moisture between them (and possibly damaged each other) as they grew it could have led to the rot (a guess, based on your observation that only the 'joined' ones rotted.  )

[Blackpool rocket]

I grew some this year and direct sowed. The germination rate was almost 100% & they grew to about the diameter of an orange.
They had nice foliage & purple tops.
However they were very squashed & had been burrowed into by something which had left a black trail in it's wake in the flesh.
Once these trails had been cut away, there was hardly anything left.

Another failure to add to the list.

Br.

[BabbyAnn]

the tracks are most likely to be cabbage root fly larvae, after all, the turnip and swede really is all part of the same root and much easier for the female flies to find when laying eggs.  I'm afraid these vegetables come in the same protection category as carrots  (eg enviromesh/cage)