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When do you plant radishes


Growing radishes in home gardens

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Quick facts

Garden radishes and daikons 

Radishes come in many sizes, colors, and types. Most familiar are the garden radishes (Raphanus sativus var. radicula). Garden radishes have a spicy flavor and crisp juicy texture. They are good in salads and can stand alone as a snack.

Radishes may be spherical or carrot-shaped, and in a rainbow of colors: green, white, pink, red, purple and yellow. You may plant these small roots in the spring, but you can also grow them as a fall crop.

Home gardeners can also grow the long, white, Asian radish (R. sativus var. longipinnatus), often called daikon, its Japanese name. These roots can grow to large sizes, and are typically less spicy or hot than the garden types. Gardeners often plant them in the late summer for a late fall harvest. You can store them for fresh use for up to two months.

Radishes do best when grown in cooler conditions, and are tolerant of cold weather. You can grow tender, juicy, flavorful radishes if the plants grow quickly without stress. They may develop a flower that goes to seed, develop excessively hot flavor or become woody during the heat of a typical Minnesota summer.  

You should follow seed packet or catalog recommendations for individual varieties.

Planting

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How to keep your radishes healthy and productive

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Managing pests, diseases, and disorders

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Authors: Marissa Schuh, Extension educator, and Jill MacKenzie

Reviewed in 2022

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Growing Radishes From Seed (Everything You Need To Know)

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Growing radishes from seed is very easy! In this post, I will show you exactly when and how to plant radish seeds, give you detailed step-by-step instructions, as well as seedling care tips for the best success.



If you’ve never tried growing radishes from seed, you should definitely add it to your list. The whole process is fun, and the results are fast too.

There is no need to wait months for your bounty, you can start eating them in a matter of weeks. Since they are so simple and quick, planting radish seeds is great for beginners.

 

Below I will show you everything you need to know about how to plant & grow radish seeds. You’ll get detailed step by step instructions, learn how to care for the seedlings, and much more!

Table of Contents

Growing Radishes From Seed

Radishes are one of my favorite vegetables to grow from seed. They’re quick to mature, and there are several varieties to choose from, so it never gets boring.

Types Of Radish Seeds To Plant

There are tons of different types of radish seeds you can plant in your garden. The variety you choose depends on your preference for flavor and color.

Here are a few of my favorites. Be sure to try several to figure out which ones you like the best, or get a mixed packet.

Related Post: How To Collect Seeds From Your Radishes

Different types of radish seed packets

Recommended Radish Seed Starting Methods

The best method to use for planting radish seeds is direct sowing. You certainly could try starting them indoors or winter sowing them if you want.

However, they do not like to be transplanted. Doing so can cause premature bolting or other problems down the line. So, for the best results, I recommend sowing them directly into your garden.

Related Post: 3 Seed Starting Methods That Every Gardener Should Try

How Long From Seed To Harvest?

The best thing about growing radishes from seed is that they are very fast. They can take as little as 25 days from seed to harvest.

However, some varieties can take as long as 70 days. So, always make sure you check the packets of each variety you plan to sow in order to get the timing right.

Mature radish in my garden

Planting Radish Seeds

One of the nice things about starting radish seeds is how simple they are to plant. You just need to choose the right time to sow them, and follow the proper steps.

When To Plant Radish Seeds

The best time to plant radish seeds is as soon as the ground is workable in very early spring, or once the weather cools down in the fall.

They hate hot weather, and will germinate best in cooler soil. If it’s too hot, they either won’t sprout, or they will bolt right after germination.

Related Post: How To Grow Seeds: The Ultimate Seed Starting Guide

Preparing to sow my radish seeds

How To Plant Radish Seeds Step-By-Step

With no special equipment needed, other than a trowel and some rich soil, planting the seeds is super easy. Just get your supplies together before starting, and you’ll have no problems.

Supplies Needed:

Step 1: Prepare the soil – Loosen up the soil, and remove any weeds, or large impediments like rocks and sticks.

Amend poor quality soil with compost or worm castings, and then mix an organic granular fertilizer into it before sowing your seeds.

Step 2: Figure out the spacing – Since they don’t need much room, you can space the seeds 3-5″ apart. If that’s too tedious for you, just scatter them in a row, and thin them later on.

Step 3: Plant the seeds – There are a couple ways to plant them. Either lay each one on top of the soil, then gently press it down.

Or, make holes with your finger, and simply drop them in. They only need to be planted about a 1/2″ deep. If you’re using old seeds, put 2-3 into each hole.

Planting radish seeds in my garden

Step 4: Cover the seeds – Once you’re done sowing radish seeds, cover them up with soil.

Then use your hand to gently press the top of the dirt down to ensure it comes into contact with the seeds.

Step 5: Water – Last, water your beds until the soil is evenly moist. Use the lowest setting on your garden hose so the soil doesn’t wash away.

Radish Germination Time

Like I said before, radish seeds grow fast after planting. It only takes about 5-10 days for them to germinate.

If yours aren’t growing, then it’s probably either too wet or too hot for them. Either of these will inhibit germination.

Baby radish plant seedling

What Do Radish Seedlings Look Like?

When they first pop out of the ground, your tiny baby radish seedlings will have two heart shaped leaves. These are called the “seed leaves”.

All of the rest that form after that are called the “true leaves”, and those look exactly like miniature versions of the normal ones.

Radish seedling germinating

How To Care For Radish Seedlings

Since you probably planted your radish seeds directly in your vegetable bed, caring for the seedlings is simple. The most important things to remember are water and proper nutrients.

First true leaves on radish seedling

FAQs

Growing radishes from seed is really straightforward. But since you might still have a few questions, here are the answers to the most common ones I get.

How many radish seeds do you plant per hole?

If your seeds are new, you can plant one per hole. But if they are a few years old, place two or three into each hole, then thin them later on.

How deep do you plant radish seeds?

Plant radish seeds twice as deep as they are wide – so about 1/4″ – 1/2″ deep.

Can you start radish seeds indoors?

I do not recommend starting radishes indoors. They hate to be transplanted, and doing so can stunt their growth or cause other problems down the line. For best results, direct sow them into your garden instead.

Do radish seeds need light to germinate?

No, radish seeds do not need light to germinate.

Should I soak radish seeds before planting?

There’s no need to soak the seeds before planting them. It certainly won’t hurt, and can help them germinate faster.

However, since they are already very quick, you probably won’t notice much of a difference if you soak them first.

Growing radishes from seed is so fast and easy that you’ll wonder why you never tried it before. Simply follow the steps and instructions above the best success.


Are you tired of struggling with growing your garden plants from seed? Then you need to take my online Seed Starting Course! It’s a fun, self-paced course that will show you everything you need to be successful, and walk you through it all step-by-step. Enroll and begin today!

Or, maybe you just need a quick refresher. Then download a copy of my Starting Seeds Indoors eBook instead.

More Posts About Growing Seeds

Share your tips for growing radishes from seeds in the comments section below!

Print The Step By Step Instructions

Materials

Tools

Instructions

    1. Prepare the soil - Loosen the soil, then remove weeds and any large rocks or sticks. Amend the bed with compost or worm castings, and then mix an organic granular fertilizer into it before planting the seeds.
    2. Figure out the spacing - Space the seeds 3-5" apart. If that's too tedious, just scatter them in a row, and thin the seedlings later on.
    3. Plant the seeds - Either lay the seeds on top of the soil, then gently press them down about a 1/2" deep. Or, make holes with your finger, and drop them in. If the seeds are old, plant 2-3 per hole.
    4. Cover the seeds - When you're done, cover the seeds with soil. Then use your hand to gently press the top of the dirt down so it comes into good contact with the seeds.
    5. Water - Use the lowest setting on your garden hose to water your beds until the soil is evenly moist.

planting and care, growing from seeds in open ground, types and varieties, photo

Author: Elena N. https://floristics.info/en/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=19 Category: garden plants reprinted: Last amendments:

Content

Radish (lat. Raphanus sativus) is an annual or biennial plant belonging to the group Radish of the genus Radish of the Cabbage or Cruciferous family. The radish vegetable got its name from the Latin word radix, which means root. This is a precocious garden crop, a leader among fast-growing vegetables, it is in great demand in spring, because at this time only radishes contain living vitamins, which are so necessary for the body after winter.

Planting and caring for radishes

Read more about radish cultivation below

Botanical description

The radish plant is grown in many countries. It is a root crop with a diameter of 2.5 cm, covered with a thin skin of red, pink or white-pink color with a sharp taste due to the mustard oil contained in its pulp. The radish vegetable is a long-day plant; for normal development, it needs 13-hour daylight hours. But its growing season is short, so you can grow radish roots throughout the season, planting it literally every week.

Planting radishes in open ground

When to plant

Radish seeds germinate at a temperature of 1-2 ºC; at the time of the year the day is still short) leads only to the growth of the tops, while the root crop does not grow and coarsens. As soon as the soil thaws and warms up, the radish is planted in the ground. This usually happens in mid-April, although in warmer areas, early varieties of radishes are sown as early as late March.

Soil for radishes

Growing radishes from seed begins with soil preparation. The site where you sow radishes should be sunny at least the first half of the day and closed from the wind. The optimal soil for radishes is loose, light soil of a neutral or slightly acidic reaction, the pH of which is in the range of 5.5-7.0 units. Too acidic soils must be limed before planting radishes.

It is good to sow radishes in the area intended for growing tomatoes in the future: you can sow radishes on it every week until the twentieth of May, collect a good harvest of root crops and at the same time prepare the soil in the area for growing tomatoes. Heavy and cold soils or poor sandy loamy soils, if you want to grow radishes in them, will have to be dug up with humus at the rate of 2-3 kg per m². Fresh manure does not fertilize the soil for radishes.

You can plant radishes in a plot where potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans were previously grown, but in a plot where turnips, radishes, turnips, daikon, watercress, cabbage and horseradish grew, you cannot grow a good harvest of radishes. It is advisable to change the place for radishes every year, so that each time it has predecessors from a different family.

For spring sowing, the site is prepared in autumn: they dig up the soil to the depth of a shovel bayonet with compost or humus - then in spring, immediately before sowing, the depth of digging with the simultaneous application of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers can be no more than 20 cm.

How to plant in the ground

Seeds of radish are sown densely in grooves previously shed with water to a depth of 2 cm, keeping a distance between rows of 15-20 cm. The grooves are covered with loose soil, then the surface is compacted, but not watered, but covered with a layer of peat or humus 2 cm thick. At night, after five o'clock in the evening and until the morning, the bed is covered with a film until the seeds germinate. The timing of the emergence of seedlings depends on the weather. In good, dry and sunny weather, the seeds can germinate in 3-4 days.

At the stage of development at the seedlings of the first leaf, they are thinned out, leaving a distance of 3-5 cm between the specimens. If you are a patient person, sow the seeds immediately at the indicated distance so that you do not have to break through the seedlings later, because this procedure can damage the roots of the main seedlings, and they will develop worse, and as a result, they may shoot. With proper care, growing radishes in the open field before harvest lasts 20-30 days.

Planting radish before winter

We told you about the timing of spring sowing, and planting of winter radish, biennial, is carried out at the end of autumn. Planting radishes in the fall is carried out after the onset of frost - in the middle or end of November. Far from all varieties of radishes are suitable for winter sowing, but varieties such as Yubileiny, Spartak, Mercado, Mayak, Carmen are able to germinate even at low temperatures.

Preparation of the site for sowing is carried out at the end of summer: the soil is dug up and fertilized, adding half a bucket of humus or rotted compost per 1 m², 1 tablespoon of double superphosphate and potassium sulfate. After fertilizing, the bed is covered with a film, pressing its edges with stones or bricks so that the shelter does not blow away with the wind.

The procedure for autumn sowing differs from the spring procedure in that in autumn the seeds are thrown into dry ground, and after planting the seeds, the bed must be mulched with dry earth or peat, the surface is compacted and the area is covered with snow if it has already fallen.

What is the advantage of winter sowing? The fact that next year you will receive a harvest of radishes sown in autumn two weeks earlier than a harvest of radishes sown next spring.

Radish care

Growing conditions

Outdoor radish care consists of watering, weeding and loosening of row spacings. If you put a layer of mulch on the bed after sowing, care will not be tedious, but try to complete all care procedures on time.

Watering

Radish is a moisture-loving crop, the optimal soil moisture for the normal development of its roots should be about 80%, so you will have to water the site often, especially at first, otherwise the radish will be bitter. With insufficient watering, the plant shoots, and root crops do not develop. If watering is too frequent or plentiful, the root crops will crack.

How to water radishes in order to achieve a good and high-quality harvest? If the spring is normal, with rains and thunderstorms, watering the radish is carried out every day in the morning or after 17.00, but if the spring turns out to be dry, then the soil on the site will have to be moistened daily both in the morning and in the evening. Especially strictly it is necessary to monitor the condition of the soil after the appearance of the first true leaf in the seedlings. Only on condition that the soil in the beds with radishes will be in a slightly damp state all the time, you can grow juicy, tasty root crops.

Top dressing

On poor soils, radishes need to be fed twice during the growing season, radishes growing on rich soils need only one top dressing. Try not to overdo it with the nitrogen component, because in this case, all the vitality of the radish will be spent on growing tops, and the roots will be elongated and oversaturated with nitrates.

How to fertilize radishes, what fertilizers can be applied to the soil without risk to saturate root crops with substances hazardous to human health? Here is a recipe for a balanced mixture of fertilizers that will help the radish form a healthy and juicy root crop: compost and humus, in the amount necessary for your soil, 10 g of potash fertilizer and superphosphate, 10-15 g of saltpeter, one and a half liters of ash. In fertile soil, it is enough to apply only mineral fertilizers.

Pests and diseases

The main enemies of radishes are cruciferous flea and mole cricket, other garden pests (aphids, wireworms, caterpillars) do not have time to damage radishes much due to their rapid growth. The cruciferous flea is dangerous for radishes precisely at an early stage of its development, since it is capable of destroying defenseless seedlings that have barely hatched throughout the entire area in a few days. When the seedlings get stronger, the flea is no longer afraid of them.

How to treat radishes so that the cruciferous flea does not annoy them? To scare away the insect from young green leaves, the tops are sprayed with a solution of wood ash: 2 cups of fresh ash and 50 g of grated laundry soap are dissolved in 10 liters of water. You can simply scatter the ashes over the area. It must be said that both of these methods are ineffective, and the most reliable protection against a flea is the construction of a shelter: along the length of the entire bed, metal arcuate supports are installed, on which a spunbond is thrown. Under this cover, the radish breathes normally, the tops do not burn under the scorching rays of the sun, and most importantly, the harmful insect cruciferous flea does not penetrate under the spunbond, destroying radish crops. After the tops grow, the shelter can be removed.

Medvedka often harms early varieties of radish in the greenhouse, where it crawls in the spring to warm up. If you grow radishes in the open field, then this terrible enemy is unlikely to have time to cause great damage to your crop. And it is very difficult to fight with a bear.

What causes radish diseases? Of the diseases, bacteriosis is dangerous for radish, manifested by premature yellowing of the leaves, mucus and rotting of root crops, clubroot, also determined primarily by yellow leaves, as well as by growths and swellings on root crops, and black leg, which affects plants at the seedling stage, why their leaves turn yellow and curl and the stems turn black at the base.

To avoid these problems, choose varieties that are resistant to diseases and follow the conditions of agricultural technology, and most importantly, remove diseased plants from the site in time. Kila can be fought by cultivating the soil around the plants with milk of lime (2 cups of fluffy lime per 10 liters of water), consumption - 1 liter of milk per plant. Instances affected by the black leg are treated 2-3 times at weekly intervals with infusion of onion peel (20 g of peel is poured with a liter of water and insisted for 24 hours).

Processing

Readers often ask questions about how to treat radishes for pests or how to treat radishes for diseases. It is undesirable to use pesticides in the fight against diseases and pests of rapidly ripening root crops if you are concerned about your health and the health of those who will eat this radish, so the best defense is to follow all the rules of cultivation and care.

If, however, the recommendations we have described did not give a result, and it is necessary to take emergency radical measures, then you will have to treat the radish from the black leg with a solution of copper sulfate (1 tablespoon of the drug, 50 g of laundry soap shavings per 10 liters of water), and treat bacteriosis by treating the plants 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.

But we repeat: everything you process the radish with, you will then eat.

Harvesting and storage

Radishes do not ripen at the same time, so the answer to the question of when to dig up radishes is that they should be harvested selectively, as they ripen. Harvesting radishes is best done in the morning, watering the beds abundantly the night before. Pulling out the root crops, shake off the remnants of the soil from them, cut the tops not under the very root crop, but at a distance of 2-3 cm from it, and do not cut the roots at all. How much and how to store radishes?

From long-term storage even in the best conditions, radishes become bitter and flabby, so give up plans to harvest this root crop, such as carrots or beets, especially since fresh juicy radishes can be grown at any time - not in the garden , so in the greenhouse. The harvest of radish harvested in the described way is stored in plastic bags in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator for about a week.

Species and varieties

Varieties of radish for open ground are divided into super-early, early-ripening, mid-ripening and late-ripening according to the ripening time.

Ultra-early, or early maturing varieties of radish

Ripen in 18-20 days. The most famous of them:

Early maturing varieties

Ripens 20-30 days after germination, the best of them are:

Mid-ripening radish

Ripens in 30-35 days. The best varieties of this group are:

Late-ripening varieties of radish

Which take 36-45 days to mature - these include:

Late-ripening varieties are usually sown in the first decade of August.

Literature

  1. Read related topics on Wikipedia
  2. Peculiarities and other plants of the Cabbage family
  3. List of all species on The Plant List
  4. More information on World Flora Online


Rhubarb: growing in the garden from seed
Radish: growing from seed in the garden, varieties

Sections: Brassicaceae (Cabbage, Cabbage) Garden plants Plants on P Root crops

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Secrets of experienced gardeners for growing radishes in the open field

Radishes are quite cold-resistant culture. It withstands frosts down to -2 C. The optimum temperature for growth is +18 C. Consider all possible sowing options.

Content

When can radishes be sown

In open ground, radishes begin to be sown from late April - early May. So that the vegetable is always on your table, sow the seeds in parts with an interval of 10-20 days. Radishes can be sown virtually all summer, with the exception of June. Why? Now let's find out.

June has the longest days. The optimal length of daylight hours for the normal development of root crops is 8-10 hours. If the length of the day increases to 14 hours, the plant begins to move from development to reproduction. The radish will go to the arrow, will not give root crops or they will be very small and tough. Early varieties have time to ripen before the onset of long days. Sowing late-ripening varieties does not make sense. They do not have time to gain mass and go to the arrow. To get a decent harvest, you need to choose the right variety that will not fade in color from the summer heat, or provide shading at the planting site. If it is impossible to create such conditions on the site, then it is better to continue growing radishes in mid-July - September, when daylight hours begin to wane. In this case, the radish does not shoot, the fruits grow large and tasty. You can still sow radishes before winter, but we will talk about a little later.

Photo of radish

Best varieties for planting

So, we decided on the sowing dates. Now we will decide which varieties we will sow. In the spring, early radishes are sown Early red and 18 days>. There are many varieties that are designed specifically for summer sowing. They will take longer to grow but produce larger root crops such as Octave, Red Giant and Red Giant. Already in early September, you will receive the first juicy fruits. Some late-ripening varieties, such as the Red Giant, can be stored in the cellar for up to 2 months.

Most popular varieties :

The photo shows radish

Many gardeners are concerned about the question, is it true that radishes will sing for 18 days during the time stated in the title? Experience shows that the radish of this variety can be harvested on the 23-25th day from germination. The plant forms a root crop in 18 days under certain weather conditions and temperatures.

All white-tipped radishes, such as 18 days, French Breakfast, should not be kept in the ground, waiting for the roots to gain a lot of mass. Fruits further tend to hollowness.

With proper cultivation, radishes crunch and splash with juice when cut. Pulp without fibers and voids.

The photo shows a radish

Sowing seeds

What kind of soil is needed for sowing? Radishes prefer loose, moist soils. Before you grow radishes, you need to prepare the site: dig, add rotted manure, break up clods, level the soil. It is important to remember that the plant does not tolerate fresh manure. In no case should you fertilize the land freshly. It is better to prepare a bed for early radishes in the fall. 1 bucket of rotted manure per 1 m 9 is introduced into the soil0415 2 . We shed the earth well before sowing and make shallow rows. With deep embedding of seeds, the root crop changes shape. The optimal planting depth is 1 cm. Radish seeds are sown at a distance of 5 cm from each other, laid out individually. The beds are made one after another at a distance of 10 cm or more. After the seeds have been spread, close the bed and press it firmly with the palm of your hand so that the soil is more in contact with the seeds. So they will grow faster. Under good weather conditions, seedlings appear in 3-4 days. So that the radish sown in April grows good and juicy, From 5 pm until morning, cover the crops with a film.

In the photo, preparing a site for planting radishes

How to grow radishes when there is very little space on the plot? For limited areas, the use of a special marker gives good results. On the board, teeth are made to a depth of 1 cm according to the 5x5 pattern. Thus, 400 seeds are placed per 1 m 2 . It turns out a continuous sowing, not in rows. The radish grows one by one. The soil before sowing should be moist, uniform and without lumps. If the area is skewed, then the teeth will not leave prints. We put the marker on the soil and walk on it, pressing it into the ground. The marker leaves holes. We beat off the land that has stuck to it. Even holes are formed in which we lay out the seeds, cover with earth and press with the palm of our hand. With this sowing from 1 m 2 you can get up to 5 kg of crop.

Photo of a seeder for sowing radishes

When sowing radishes before winter, choose a flat area with light sandy or sandy loamy soils with a slope to the south or southeast. The site should not be flooded with spring waters. Rows are cut in the second half of October. With the onset of stable frosts, sowing with dry seeds begins. The best time is from 5 to 20 November. Seeds are covered with peat or humus.

Winter sowing in December-February directly into frozen soil provides early germination and yields 2 weeks earlier than in spring. Ridges are prepared in October. Grooves are cut with a depth of 4-5 cm. In winter, snow is removed from the ridges, seeds are laid out and covered with compost or peat to a depth of 2 cm.

In the photo, winter sowing of radish

Care of crops

Proper cultivation of radishes requires compliance with certain rules.

Learn more