Nevada has no single planting date for these roots. The state runs from USDA hardiness zone 4a to 10a (USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023), so a Las Vegas backyard and a high-elevation garden near Reno live in different climates. The practical answer is to plant by soil warmth and your local frost odds, choose root types that match your elevation, and take specific variety names from your county extension office.
When the soil is warm enough in Nevada
The only frost figures verified for this page come from a Las Vegas airport station. NOAA’s 1991-2020 U.S. Climate Normals put the last spring 32°F freeze between January 7 and February 1 (the 30-70% probability band, station USW00023169). Do not treat that as a Nevada planting window. It describes a desert urban heat island, the warmest extreme in the state. Reno, Carson City and any garden at elevation see frost months later in spring and months earlier in fall.
Frost is only a proxy for what these crops care about, which is the soil. Soil lags the air, so it warms after the frost risk ends, not with it. A bed can be frost-free and still too cold for celeriac or Jerusalem artichoke tubers to move. A cheap soil thermometer, pushed a few inches down in the morning, tells you more than the calendar. Your county extension office can give the soil temperature each crop needs.
A frost date is a probability, not a promise. A band of odds says when a late freeze becomes unlikely, and some years will still surprise you. Keep row cover handy for the weeks after your local date.
Site Jerusalem artichokes before you plant anything
Jerusalem artichoke is effectively permanent once planted. Every fragment of tuber left in the ground regrows, and digging the bed only scatters more pieces. It is the most regretted planting in a vegetable garden, so choose the spot first. Pick a corner you can give up for good, away from the beds you rotate, and ideally bounded by a path, a wall or a mowed edge. Don’t plant it where you might later want a lawn or a tidy raised bed.
Only after that does the growing part make sense. It is a tough perennial that wants a sunny spot and steady moisture, and it needs far less care than the other roots on this page. For how it compares with celeriac, kohlrabi and horseradish, see Celeriac, Kohlrabi, Horseradish and Jerusalem Artichokes.
Timing by root type
Kohlrabi, turnips and rutabagas are quick, cool-season crops, and they go in as soon as the soil is workable and no longer cold. Celeriac is the long one, started early and set out once the frost risk has passed. Horseradish is planted as a root piece in early spring, when the ground has thawed and dried enough to dig. Where spring is cold and late, the gap between soil that can be worked and soil that is warm shrinks, and the earliest types gain a real advantage.
How long the season lasts here
Both frost dates for the Las Vegas station are in the NOAA normals, so the subtraction can be done, with a warning attached. Count from the latest spring date (February 1) to the earliest fall date (December 8) and you get about 310 days. Count from the earliest spring date (January 7) to the latest fall date (December 23) and you get about 350. That is roughly ten to eleven months between freezes, and it is a low-desert extreme. It is not the length of a typical Nevada season. A high-elevation garden may get a fraction of that, and I won’t guess a number the data doesn’t support.
The length of the window matters because of what it allows. A long window allows a second sowing. Turnips and kohlrabi can go in again after a failed first try, or in a later round timed to cooler weather. A season that long also leaves room to hold celeriac until the weather suits it. A short window makes the first sowing the only one. A mistake in March or April costs the whole crop, so you pick the earliest types and protect them.
The window also changes whether transplanting is worth the root check. Root crops dislike having their roots disturbed. Kohlrabi tolerates transplanting better than a carrot-style taproot does. Celeriac is nearly always transplanted anyway. In a long season, direct sowing keeps the roots undisturbed and costs nothing in time. In a short one, buying weeks with transplants can be the only way to finish the crop. If you do transplant, inspect the roots first. Sound roots are white and fill the cell. Circling, brown or mushy roots mean you should pick another seedling.
Successive plantings are covered in the succession sowing guide on this site. For a very short season, Growing Unusual Root Crops in Wyoming shows how a cold, high interior state handles the same crops.
Heat and water in Nevada
The figures a heat-and-water page would normally rest on, the count of days above 90°F and the summer rainfall, are not among the verified facts for this page, so I won’t quote them. Treat Nevada’s summers as hot and dry in the low desert and cooler at elevation. What you need to know is that irrigation, not rain, supplies most of what the garden drinks. Heat stalls kohlrabi and turnips and can make them woody or bitter. Uneven watering splits roots. For the cool-season crops, shade at the root zone, a mulch layer, and drip lines delivering steady moisture do more than any variety choice.
Two facts govern this group. The first is season length, which decides whether celeriac can finish here at all. In the low desert the frost-free window is generous, but celeriac then has to get through summer heat with steady water. At elevation the problem reverses, because the frost-free window runs short before the root has sized up. Either way, celeriac is the crop to try last and with the least money on the line.
The second fact is the winter low, which decides whether perennials and hardy roots stay in the ground under mulch or are lifted and stored before the soil freezes. At the Las Vegas station, the mean daily minimum of the coldest month is 39.6°F (NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020). That is an average of nights, not a record low, and the frost probabilities above show that freezes still happen. Even so, in the low desert many roots can simply stay in the ground and be dug as needed. At the cold end, zone 4a, the soil freezes hard. Horseradish and Jerusalem artichokes are perennials and ride it out, but kohlrabi, celeriac and turnips should come up before the soil freezes.
Storage touches food safety, so inspect everything you lift. Look at each root for soft patches, weeping spots and moldy crowns, and cut away nothing and keep nothing doubtful. A soft patch, a weeping spot or a moldy crown ends the question. A root that looks sound is not proof that it is safe, and I won’t give a keeping time because it depends on your storage conditions.
For a humid contrast, read Growing Unusual Root Crops in Tennessee, where damp summers bring mildew and disease instead of drought stress.
Which these root crops suit Nevada
Choose by type, not by cultivar name. A short season favors the earliest types, and a hot one favors types you can give airflow and shade at the root. Humidity is rarely the issue in Nevada, but it makes disease resistance the first criterion where it applies. I am deliberately not naming any variety. This page has no verified Nevada trial results, and a variety that thrives in one valley can fail in another. Varieties trialed locally are the only recommendation that means anything. University of Nevada, Reno Extension and your county office are the right place to ask.
| Root type | Season demand | Where it fits in Nevada |
|---|---|---|
| Kohlrabi | Quick, cool-season | Early spring or a later cool round; suits short seasons |
| Turnip | Quick, cool-season | Early sowing or a second sowing in a long window |
| Rutabaga | Slower, cool-season | Needs a cool stretch to finish; better where summers are mild |
| Celeriac | Longest of the group | Risky; needs steady water and a window long enough to finish |
| Horseradish | Perennial | Hardy; stays in the ground under mulch |
| Jerusalem artichoke | Perennial | Hardy; plant only where permanence is acceptable |
Turnip and rutabaga are brassicas. They share their troubles with cabbage, kale and mustard, so a gardener who rotates them into a cabbage bed has rotated nothing. Check the crop rotation guide on this site before you assign beds, and count kohlrabi in that family too.
Two kitchen warnings go with the perennials. Grating fresh horseradish releases compounds that burn the eyes and airways. Work with good ventilation and keep your eyes well away from the bowl. And Jerusalem artichokes cause digestive discomfort in many people, because they store inulin instead of starch. Start with a small first portion to find out how you react.
Common questions
What is the best month to plant root crops in Nevada?
It depends on where you garden. The Las Vegas airport normals give a last spring freeze between January 7 and February 1, but that is a desert extreme and not a statewide date. Check your county extension office for your local frost odds, then wait for the soil to warm.
Can I keep Jerusalem artichokes from spreading?
Not reliably. Every tuber fragment left behind regrows, so site them where permanence is acceptable and dig thoroughly if you ever want them out. Expect to lift the bed more than once.
Is a stored root safe if it looks fine?
Looks are not enough. Check for soft patches, weeping spots and moldy crowns, and discard the root if you find any of them.
Can I rotate turnips into a bed where cabbage grew?
No. Turnips and rutabagas are brassicas and share diseases with cabbage, kale and mustard. Rotate them with non-brassica crops, and see the rotation guide on this site for a workable plan.