turnips seeds not germinating

[gwynnethmary]

  Last year I sowed some turnip seeds and they popped up a couple of weeks later-beautiful!  I had some seed left so used the same again this spring.  The first row shrivelled so I had another go.  The soil seemed very hard for the little seedlings to break through- I think it's called capping, and so I put some netting over the top so that the water would soak in more slowly when I watered.  It appears that only one seedling has come up.  What have I done wrong?  iI was so easy last year!

[gwynnethmary]

[chriscross1966]

It's too dry, you'd have been better off either using modules (you can do turnips in modules but it's a pest) or else take out a deepish channel for the drill, fill it with compost or rotted manure or field manure, capped over with seed compost), flood the drill with a lot of water, at least 2 gallons per yard (10 litres per metre) then sow on top of that cover with 1/4" or 6mm of seed compost and water in with a fine rose at about a quarter of the previous use. Water daily if no rain until they're up....

[davyw1]

Using a hoe or rake make a ridge (just as the farmers do) about 4" high make your drill along the top put a layer of compost in the drill water along he drill without the rose put your seeds in and water them in cover again in compost and again water along the line of compost. After that just keep them moist. You can if you want  (i do) put some fish blood and bone on.

[Squashman]

All my beetroot, turnip and swede are started in 1" x 1" modules, my hard plastic plug trays hold 300.
I should be lifting my first beetroot within 2 weeks.

[gillian62]

I did a small trayful of turnips, and then transplanted them straight outside.  Sowing them inside seems to have given them a good start and they are sprinting away, after being outside for 1 week.