🥬 Long Island Improved Rutabaga

What it looks like

Photos show the species, rutabaga (Brassica napus Napobrassica Group), since no cultivar-specific photo was verified for this variety — the species photos above are already hosted on this site and attributed as on the species guide.

Why this variety

Long Island Improved is one of the classic American rutabagas, named by UF/IFAS Extension among the main rutabaga varieties for Florida gardens — alongside American Purple Top and Laurentian — and it earns the listing with globe-shaped roots, sweet yellow flesh, and a long, steady season of about 90 days. It is the rutabaga to grow when you want the standard done well.

Rutabagas need a longer season than turnips — about 90 days against a turnip’s 50 to 60 — and Long Island Improved uses every one of them, building a dense, sweet root that stores for months. Its globe shape peels easily and cooks evenly, and its sweetness improves after cool weather, which is why rutabagas are a winter crop, not a summer one.

Florida translation: Long Island Improved is a winter rutabaga here — and UF/IFAS’s advice is the plan: rutabaga is a cool-season vegetable that grows best in winter in Florida, so sow in fall for a winter harvest about three months later. Give it the full season, water evenly, and harvest before spring heat turns roots woody.

How to grow

Direct sow about half an inch deep in fall, 3 to 4 inches apart in rows 30 inches apart, and thin to 6 inches apart once seedlings are up. Work worm castings in before sowing, loosen soil deep, and keep the row evenly moist through the long season — a rutabaga is a marathon, not a sprint.

If you are new to choosing between cultivars, the Varieties Matter guide explains why the name after the plant matters as much as the plant itself. For the general picture, start with the Rutabaga growing guide, then use this guide for the details that make Long Island Improved Rutabaga different.

Water & feeding

Rutabagas are a long, slow crop, and they punish uneven watering more than most roots: dry spells make woody, sharp roots, and a sudden soak splits them. Water about an inch a week through the whole long season, mulch to hold moisture in sandy soil, and feed modestly — worm castings before sowing plus one light side-dressing mid-season. Rutabagas need boron more than most vegetables; a boron shortage shows up as brown, corky hearts inside otherwise fine-looking roots, so a light application of a complete fertilizer with micronutrients is cheap insurance on sandy soils.

Common problems

• Woody or bitter roots — heat or drought during bulbing. Sow so roots mature in cool weather and water evenly.
• Brown heart (boron deficiency) — corky brown centers in the root. Use a complete fertilizer with boron on sandy soil.
• Clubroot in brassica beds — rotate out of brassicas for several years and keep soil pH up.
• Flea beetles and cabbage worms — row cover early for seedlings; hand-pick caterpillars on established plants.

Harvest

Pull at about 90 days, when roots reach 4 to 5 inches — fork them out, twist tops off, and store topped roots in a cool, damp place or refrigerated in a bag for months. Peel thickly, dice, and roast or mash Long Island Improved with butter: its yellow flesh turns golden and sweet, and it is the rutabaga to serve at a winter table.

Saving seeds

Long Island Improved is one of the classic American rutabagas, of the American Purple Top type, and saved seed comes true to the globe-shaped roots with sweet yellow flesh. Rutabagas are biennial, so seed saving takes two seasons: leave a few of your best roots in the ground through winter, let them flower the second year, and collect the seed once the pods dry — keeping other brassicas at a distance so they do not cross. The full method is in the Saving seeds section of the Rutabaga guide.