Home » Misc » When to pull radishes

When to pull radishes


Tips for Growing and Picking

Like tomatoes, radishes are a vegetable you have to grow yourself in order to enjoy their true flavor and knowing when to harvest radish is the key to that enjoyment. Grocery store radishes often taste quite spicy, but radishes grown in your garden and harvested at the correct time have a mild flavor and add a crisp crunch to salads and sandwiches. Members of the cabbage family (Brassicaceae), like broccoli and kale, these delicious globes of white flesh are also fun to grow. Here’s how to know when to pick radishes for peak flavor.

I grow many different varieties of radish in my garden, including some beautifully colored ones.

Why is knowing when to harvest radish important?

Unlike some other crops which can be harvested on a rolling basis as they ripen (green beans, peppers, and cucumbers, I’m talking about you!), radishes are a “once and done” crop. Each radish seed yields one radish root. If you miss the correct planting or harvesting time for radishes, your yield will be a whole lot of leaves and no delicious roots or over-ripe roots that are cracked, woody, and bitter. If you’ve tried growing radish before only for the plants to never develop their classic scarlet globe roots, you know the exact disappointment I’m talking about.

No matter which radish varieties you grow, success is all about the right timing. And I’m referring to both the timing of the planting and the timing of the harvest.

‘Cherry Belle’ is a classic red radish, though there are many other types you should grow, too.

Radish is a cool weather-loving crop. If you wait too long to plant radish seeds, the weather and soil will be too warm, and no roots will form. The leaves may be large and robust, but the root will look more like a rat tail root than a radish. Peak planting times are very early spring for late spring harvests and late summer for fall harvests.

When the planting is properly timed, figuring out when to harvest radish isn’t difficult, and there are several methods you can use to determine when the roots are ready to be pulled.

Radishes harvested at the peak of flavor are not woody or overly spicy. They are crisp and flavorful. These ‘Easter Egg’ radishes are a favorite of my family.

When to harvest radish based on the planting date

Since radish seeds are most often planted in the very early spring, 4-6 weeks before your last spring frost, they are among the earliest spring harvests for most gardeners. In my Pennsylvania garden, our last expected spring frost date is May 15th, so I sow seeds into the garden straight out of the seed packet starting around the end of March. Then I continue to sow more radish seeds every week through April and until the end of May when the weather really starts to warm. Making multiple sowings like this keeps my family in radishes for weeks instead of days, and it keeps us from being overwhelmed with too many radishes all at once.

Sow a row of radish seeds every week to have a continuous harvest of roots.

One of the easiest ways to know when to harvest radish is to keep track of your planting dates. Most radish varieties are ready to be pulled 30 to 45 days after sowing the seeds. If you remember when you planted the seeds, it’s easy to determine the best harvesting date. Ripe radishes will only hold in the soil for a week or two past their peak. If you keep them in the ground too long, the roots taste bitter and the texture is woody. Plus, the plants will go to flower (which is great for the pollinators but not so good for the salad plate).

As mentioned earlier, late summer plantings can also be made for fall harvest. I start sowing more radish seeds in late August through September. They’re ready to pick 30-45 days after sowing.

It’s easy to base the harvest date on the planting date for radishes. Most are mature between 30 and 50 days after sowing.

When to harvest radish by their size

Another great way to know when to harvest radish is by the diameter of their roots. Typically, the “shoulders” of the roots stick out above the surface of the soil. This is totally normal and even serves as a good indicator of the maturity of your radish plants.

When they are seedlings, the top of the root gradually starts to color up and thicken. For classic round radish varieties, like Cherry Belle and Easter Egg, when the root’s diameter reaches about 1-inch across, they are ready for harvest. For oblong varieties, like White Icicle and French Breakfast (my favorite!), their root girth at maturity isn’t as thick since the roots are longer than they are wide. For these varieties, I harvest when the shoulder of the root is the same diameter as my thumb. Here again, don’t wait too long to harvest or the roots will split or become woody.

The “shoulders” of radishes often stick out of the soil, making it easy to see how large they are.

When to harvest radish based on the variety

Using the root size as a harvest indicator goes hand in hand with using the variety type as a harvest indicator since the variety determines the eventual size of the root. Generally speaking, a spring variety has thinner skin and won’t hold in the ground as long, while fall-planted winter radishes have thicker skins and can stay in the garden until the ground freezes even if they are fully mature. Some varieties are even bred specifically for fall and winter growing. Most that are, have a slightly longer maturation period; more like 50 to 60 days. China Rose and Watermelon radish are two wonderful winter varieties that are great for fall planting and late-season harvests. Many Daikon radish types can even be planted throughout the summer for fall and winter harvest.

Freshly harvested French Breakfast radishes are bright and crisp.

What to do if your radish roots don’t form

If your radish plants don’t form roots at all, there could be a few different factors at play.

  1. You may have planted them too late. Remember, earlier is better than later. Aim for cold weather and soil that is cold but no longer frozen.
  2. Even moisture is another key to success with radishes. If the soil dries out when the plants are just seedlings, the water stress will result in minimal “bulbing” of the roots.
  3. You planted too closely. Radish roots need room to grow and fully form. Sow the seeds ½ to 1 inch apart. Or thin them to that spacing when they are small seedlings.
  4. Do not feed radish fertilizers that are high in nitrogen. Nitrogen makes big leaves, not big roots. Use a balanced organic fertilizer or one that’s slightly higher in phosphorous (the middle number on the label) for the best results.
  5. Mulch your radish plants to help stabilize soil temperatures and cut down on competition from weeds. Use shredded leaves, straw, or finished compost.
  6. Test your soil pH every 3 to 4 years to be sure it falls in the optimum range for radish growth. 6.5 is an ideal target pH as that’s when the most nutrients are available to fuel plant growth. A pH that’s too high or too low can bind certain nutrients into the soil so plants can’t access them. (Learn more about managing soil pH here).
Radish is best planted by directly sowing the seeds into the garden soil when the weather is still cool. The plants do not like to be transplanted.

How to harvest radish roots

Aside from knowing when to harvest radish, it’s important to know how to harvest them. Round radishes are incredibly easy to harvest. They are shallow-rooted and a simple tug on the leaves is enough to uproot them. Oblong, oval, or deep-rooted radish types, like daikons, are a little more challenging. Use a trowel or garden fork to gently pry them out of the soil. Some of them can grow quite deep, so you’ll need to dig carefully.

Harvesting radishes is easy. Take a firm grasp of the foliage and pull up. Deep-rooted varieties may require a digging fork or trowel.

More tips for growing radish

Flea beetles are a common pest of radish plants. Thankfully the damage they cause is mostly aesthetic.

I hope you’ll enjoy cultivating your own homegrown roots with these tips on when to harvest radish and the accompanying info on how to time the plantings. They’ll become a fast favorite for both their flavor and their ease of growth.

Radishes make a great crop for containers. They don’t need a deep pot and thrive in potting soil mixed with compost.

Here are more articles on when to harvest various crops:

Pin it!

3 Signs That Your Radishes Are Ready to Be Harvested from the Garden • Gardenary

Published October 26, 2022 by Nicole Burke

Filed Under:

radishes

when to harvest

harvest

How

Can You Tell When Radishes Are Ready?

I like my radishes a little bit spicy and 100% crisp. The problem is, since they’re growing underground, how can you tell when they’ve grown to perfection? 

My first couple of seasons growing radishes, I was nervous if anything was happening under the surface at all. My plants produced lots of lush green leaves above ground, but when I harvested them, I was disappointed by the tap root size. Over the years, I’ve learned three signs to look for to harvest perfect, salad-ready radishes. 

You're within the window of the time guideline on your radish seed packet

I know, this one seems obvious, but how many of us have tried to assemble a piece of furniture without reading the directions? I may ignore the spacing suggestions on the backs of those little seed packs, but I’ve found that their time-to-harvest estimates are usually pretty accurate, plus or minus 10 days or so, especially when the weather has been optimal.   

Let's say you're planting your first round of French breakfast radishes in early March. You'll come out about seven to ten days later to thin radish seedlings to give your top plants adequate space to grow their tap roots. You'll return in early April, or after about 30 days from planting (as the packet most likely recommends), to check on their growth.

Different types of radishes have different grow times, so be sure to check your packet. 

Learn all you'll need to grow your own organic garden salad season after season inside our Salad Garden School. This online garden course is available inside your Gardenary 365 membership. Members all have access to our complete online gardening course library, including Herb Garden Guide and Kitchen Garden Academy.

Learn More

The radish greens above the soil have grown to be 6 to 8 inches tall

It’s true for most plants that the root growth and the shoot growth imitate one another when it comes to pacing. As above, so below, so to speak. If you don't see a lot of green growth above the soil line, then there’s probably not much happening to your little radish root below either. On the other hand, if one shoot has grown significantly taller than its neighbors, the radish attached to it will probably be just a little too big. 

For French breakfast radishes, look for greens that are about six to eight inches tall. 

Take our fun and quick Green Thumb Quiz to discover more about your gardening abilities. We'll send you resources and suggestions to help you grow your self as a gardener.

take the quiz

The radish passes the shoulder test

The shoulder of a radish is the part that pushes up against the topsoil, the part that breaks through when you give the shoots overhead a good tug. Use your finger to sweep around the base of the greens a bit to see if you can feel the shoulders. If you don’t feel anything, the radish probably needs more time to develop, so just push the soil back in place to give the teenage radish more privacy.  

Sometimes, the radishes show you they’re ready to harvest by popping their shoulders above ground to say hi. They’re not likely to continue growing much once they’re bursting out of the ground, so that makes the decision to pull or not to pull really easy! 

What happens if you leave a radish in the soil too long?

When radishes are near their time to harvest, it’s really important to watch them. If you harvest them too late, they can become starchy. I wanted to grow huge radishes for a photoshoot one year; they may have looked camera-ready, but they ended up tasting awful. Here's how to salvage your radishes if you leave them in the soil too long. 

What can you plant after you've harvested your radishes?

Once you pull up your first batch of perfect radishes, you might be wondering what to do with that empty space in your garden. After all, the last thing you want to do is leave soil bare, right?

If you know that you're still going to have the right temperature for radishes for at least 30 more days, you can always plant a second round. Just add a handful of compost and sow more radish seeds in the areas you've just harvested your first round from. That way, you can keep enjoying radishes through the rest of your growing season! 

To me, that’s the beauty of a kitchen garden: you can keep coming back and planting more, growing more, so that there's always something to harvest.

If, however, you expect the weather to change soon, you can plant something else in that spot to prepare for the upcoming growing season. I recommend going with something from a different family, so you could, for example, grow bush beans to hang over the side of your raised garden bed, or you could add some basil as soon as you're frost-free. 

Learn the step by step to plant, set up, and grow your own organic salad garden and enjoy fresh greens at least six months each year.

Enjoy your perfect homegrown radishes!

I hope this guide has you harvesting crisp radishes of all different shapes and sizes in no time! 

For more tips on growing perfect French breakfast radishes, read my full growing suggestions. If you'd like to save your own radish seeds for next season, here's how to harvest and store seeds. 

Don’t forget: you can also eat the radish greens. That means radishes are double your money!

Happy growing, my friends. 

terms, scheme, depth, watering, varieties

The earliest varieties of radish

15 days. This is the earliest of all radish varieties. Just imagine: in mid-April you sowed, and already on the May holidays you serve it to the table! Root crops have a classic shape. The pulp is tender, very juicy, crispy, slightly spicy taste. Productivity - 2.5 - 3.1 kg per 1 sq. m (1). The variety does not shoot. Root crops do not crack.

Ripens, as the name suggests, 15 days.

Recommended for all regions of Russia.

French breakfast. This variety is interesting both in shape and color - its roots are red with a white tip and long, somewhat similar to the Nantes carrot with a blunt nose. Its flesh is white, juicy and very tasty. Productivity - 1.3 kg per 1 square. m (1). Ripens 20 - 25 days.

Recommended for all regions of Russia.

Gold. These radishes look more like small turnips, with yellow roots on the outside. And the flesh is white. Tender, very juicy and tasty. Productivity - 1.2 - 2 kg per 1 sq. m (1). Drought tolerant, does not bloom. Matures 19- 21 day.

Recommended for all regions of Russia.

Mokhovsky. This variety has very delicate roots, both in color - they are white on the outside, and in taste. Their flesh is dense, juicy, excellent taste. The shape is classic, round. Ripens 19 - 31 days.

Recommended for all regions of Russia.

Icicle. This radish is also white in color, but its roots are long, similar to daikon, but smaller - 15 cm long. Their flesh is snow-white, juicy, delicately piquant in taste. Doesn't wobble for a long time. The variety is very productive - each radish weighs about 40 g, while the classic round varieties - about 15 g. And it occupies the same area. So from one bed you can get a crop of 2.5 times more than if you sow round varieties. Productivity - 2 kg per 1 square. m (1). Ripens 30 days.

Recommended for all regions of Russia.

Sowing radish

Radish is a cold-resistant plant (2), so it is sown very early, already in April. Then they harvest and forget about it until the next spring. Meanwhile, this crop can be grown several times per season!

There are 5 dates when you can sow radishes.

From 15 to 25 April. This is a classic term - the weather is usually already suitable. The optimum temperature for radishes is 15 - 18 ° C, taking into account the latest climatic realities - in the middle lane this is just the second half of April. He is not afraid of spring frosts - shoots can easily withstand temperatures down to -4 ° C, and adult plants - up to -8 ° C.

From 5 to 20 May. This is the last spring term when you can still get a crop.

From the beginning of June until almost the end of July, radishes are not sown - the heat and long daylight hours lead to the fact that the plants shoot arrows - they begin to bloom, but do not form a root crop.

From 25 July to 5 August. At this time, you can sow mid-ripening varieties - by the time the roots are tied, it will be cool and the day will be shorter than in summer. Ideal varieties that ripen 30 - 35 days: Rose-red with a white tip, Mokhovsky, Regge, Saxa RS, Saratov, Virov white, Poker.

From 25 August to 1 September. If the autumn is planned to be warm, you can sow radishes directly on the beds. If weather forecasters promise cold weather, then go to the greenhouse. Late varieties that ripen in 40-50 days are ideal for autumn sowing: Red Giant, Würzburg 59, Dungan 12/8, Autumn Giant, Riesenbutter.

Root vegetables of these varieties can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 months.

From 25 October to 5 November. This is the so-called winter sowing. It is good because it allows you to unload the sowing in the spring. And radishes sown before winter sprout earlier and yield faster.

But it is important not only to meet the deadlines, but also to sow the seeds correctly.

Seeding depth. Radishes have large seeds, they are advised to close up by 1 - 1.5 cm. But practice has shown that it is better to sow smaller - by 0.5 cm. If you dig deeper, the roots will turn out to be fibrous.

Seeding scheme. In a row 4 - 5 cm, between rows - 10 - 12 cm (3).

Growing radishes

Temperature. Optimum temperature for growing radishes is 15-18°C (4).

Location. To get a rich harvest, you need to grow radishes in a bright area.

Predecessors. The ideal option is to sow radishes after cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes or peas. But after his cruciferous relatives (cabbage, radish, rutabaga, mustard), you can’t sow - they have common diseases and pests.

Radish care

Watering. In order for root crops to grow juicy, radishes should be watered frequently - every 2 - 3 days. Irrigation rate - 4 - 5 liters per 1 sq. m. If it is not possible to water so often, the bed should be mulched with sawdust (deciduous trees) or grass - this will prevent moisture from evaporating.

Top dressing. Forget about them - fertilizers will only harm radishes. It ripens quickly, it will have enough of what is in the soil.

Weeding. Weeds can leave you without a crop: they shade the radish and rob it of moisture. Weed out the grass while it is small. If you pull large plants, you can damage the roots.

Loosening. The next day after each watering and rain, the soil in the beds with radishes must be loosened - the soil crust leads to the fact that the roots grow rough and bitter. But if your beds are mulched, then there is no need to loosen them.

Fight against cruciferous flea. The easiest way to protect radishes from this pest is to place arcs over the bed and cover with non-woven fabric. This is a 100% guarantee that the flea will not eat the leaves clean. Folk remedies do not work on it. And you can’t use chemicals to treat radish beds - they decompose longer than the crop ripens.

Popular Questions and Answers

Why do voids form in radish roots?

As a rule, voids in root crops appear in heat and drought. That is why radishes need to be grown either in spring or in late summer and autumn. And it is very important to water it often - the soil should be moist all the time.

Why do radishes grow rough?

The reason is the lack of moisture - radishes need to be watered very often: in cool weather every other day, in hot weather - daily.

Is it possible to grow radishes at home on the windowsill?

You can, but not for the sake of root crops (you can't harvest a big crop at home), but for the sake of greenery - it is very vitamin-rich and ideal for fresh salads. You can sow radishes for greens starting from November - December. The best variety for home growing is Mokhovsky.

Sources

  1. State register of breeding achievements. https://reestr.gossortrf.ru/
  2. Fisenko A.N., Serpukhovitina K.A., Stolyarov A.I. Garden. Handbook // Rostov-on-Don, Rostov University Press, 1994 - 416 p.
  3. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 - 256 p.
  4. Pantielev Ya.Kh. ABC vegetable grower // M .: Kolos, 1992 - 383 p.

Radishes from sowing to harvest. Radish care and outdoor cultivation.

Radishes are the earliest root vegetable to be the first to enter spring salads. Juicy, crispy, with bright red skin and dazzling white flesh. Scarlet, pink, white, yellow or purple - take your pick.

With all the simplicity of caring for radishes, it is not always possible to grow juicy, crunchy root crops. Radishes often go into the arrow, and then the root crop becomes “wooden”, you won’t bite it. It happens that the radish grows fibrous and hard or becomes flabby. And sometimes the taste of radish is so spicy that it is impossible to add it to a salad.

Every failure has its own reasons. If you know the intricacies of growing radishes, you can avoid unpleasant disappointments and delight your loved ones with spring salads and summer okroshka.

Radish is an early ripening crop with a friendly return of the crop. The first tiny radishes can be plucked as early as 20 days after germination, and after another week we get full-fledged large root crops.

Radishes fall off as fast as they grow. You don’t have time to look back, the root crops have already “puffed up”, and inside they have become wadded and flabby. Therefore, as soon as the radish has grown to the desired size, it must be eaten urgently - in salads, in okroshka, and just like that.

1. Grade selection

    Radishes of different varieties differ little in taste, the differences are only in the appearance of root crops. They differ in shape: round or oblong and skin color from classic bright red or rose red to exotic white, yellow and purple. Modern hybrids have more tender and juicy flesh, remain juicy longer, do not lose elasticity when overgrown.

    Multi-colored radish varieties: Purple Queen and Snow Pearl

    Radish seeds germinate quite quickly, the germination rate depends on the soil temperature. When sown in warm soil, seedlings appear on the 3-4th day. With early sowing in cold soil, the emergence of seedlings can be delayed for 7-10 days.

    Varieties of radish differ in terms of ripening:

    • ultra early ripen in 16-20 days from germination:

    Denis , 18 days , Express 16 F1 etc.;

    Radishes 18 days

    • early ripening - after 20-25 days:

    French breakfast , Zarya , Summer okroshka , Heat , Champion , Mercado , Shustryonok F1 , F27 etc. ;

    Radish French Breakfast

    • mid-season - after 25-35 days:

    Regge , Vera MS , Duro Krasnodar , Golden Miracle , Sloth Cream , Snowball , Purple Queen and others;

    Radishes Regge

    • late-ripening - after 35-55 days:

    Red Giant , Ice icicle , Dungan etc.

    Early ripe and ultra-early varieties are sown in spring to get a radish harvest as early as possible. Low light tolerant varieties such as Pomegranate Ball are suitable for greenhouse cultivation.

    Many mid-season radish varieties are resistant to blooming, or bolting, and therefore are suitable for growing in the summer. Grades Heat , Ascania , Celeste F1 are able to form roots at elevated temperatures, which is good both for May crops and for growing radishes in a greenhouse.

    Radish Celeste F1

    Late-ripening varieties of radishes form larger root crops that can be stored for a month, they are convenient to grow in the fall.

    2. Sowing dates

      To understand how to grow radishes, you need to know its features. It depends on the length of daylight whether the radish goes into the arrow or grows a juicy root crop.

      With a day length of more than 16 hours - from mid-May to mid-July - favorable conditions are created for the reproduction of radishes, i.e. flowering and seed production. Since we grow radishes not for flowers, but for root crops, seeds are sown during a short daylight hours - in early spring and late summer - early autumn.

      Spring

      Radish is a cold-resistant crop, seedlings can withstand frosts down to -4 ° C, so they start sowing radishes as soon as the top layer of soil thaws. In the middle lane, radish sowing is carried out from early April to mid-May. You can sow radishes in the greenhouse even earlier, in March, you will have time to remove early-ripening varieties before planting seedlings of tomatoes or cucumbers.

      Since the radish outgrows very quickly, it is better to sow it little by little, but in several stages with an interval of 7-10 days.

      To create a continuous conveyor of succulent root crops, the next sowing is carried out at the moment when real leaves appeared on the plants of the previous sowing.

      Summer

      In regions with a cool spring, radishes can be sown at the end of May, but during this period there is already a danger of radishes leaving the arrow. For sowing, you need to choose varieties that are resistant to bolting.

      As a rule, from mid-May to mid-July, they take a break in radish crops. During this period, it is quite difficult to get juicy root crops: a long daylight hours stimulates the flowering of radishes, and the heat contributes to the formation of a rougher skin and a sharp taste of root crops. In hot weather, root crops quickly become stiff even with frequent watering.

      When growing radishes in the summer, it is necessary to choose semi-shady places for sowing, where the plants will be a little cooler in the summer heat. In addition, you will have to artificially reduce daylight hours. To do this, from 6 pm to 6 am, the radish bed is covered with high-density black agrofiber.

      Autumn

      At the end of July, the length of daylight begins to decrease, so radishes can be sown again for autumn consumption. Crops can be carried out throughout August. At this time, it is better to sow late-ripening varieties, root crops grow larger and are well stored.

      Autumn radishes are not affected by the cruciferous flea, cool weather contributes to the formation of juicy root crops.

      Under the winter

      To get an early harvest, radishes can be sown before winter. Winter crops are carried out on frozen soil. To do this, the bed is prepared in advance, filled with organic matter or mineral fertilizers, leveled and cut into grooves. For planting seeds, use soil that has been kept warm.

      Radish seeds are sown only after a stable minus is established, and the soil surface is seized by frost. It is necessary to focus on the weather forecast and wait until the thaw passes. Podzimny sowing of radishes can be carried out at any time from November to January, when the ground is already frozen, but it has not yet been covered with snow.

      Winter sowing has its own characteristics. Since radish seeds germinate at a minimum positive temperature, they may not wait for spring and hatch during a long thaw. In regions with mild winters, it is better to sow radishes in the spring.

      Cold stratification of seeds can provoke flowering of radishes, so for winter sowing it is better to choose varieties that are resistant to bolting. The seeding rate should be increased by 1.5-2 times.

      3. Soil preparation

        In order to sow radishes as early as possible, it is better to prepare a bed for planting in the fall. Then in the spring you do not have to wait until the soil dries out to dig it up. It will be enough to draw shallow grooves and sow the seeds.

        Radishes are not too picky about nutrition, but on fertile soil, root crops grow faster and their taste is more intense. Since radishes grow very quickly: roots are formed within a month, it is necessary to initially fill the soil with all the nutrients. Under the autumn digging, humus and potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are introduced. During the spring preparation of the beds, humus and ash or a complex mineral fertilizer are introduced.

        Radish grows well on cultivated loams and black soil, sandy and peaty soils require improvement.

        Sandy soils dry out too quickly, radishes will have to be watered much more often. In addition, they are poor in composition. In sandy soils for digging, it is necessary to add humus or mature compost at the rate of 1-1.5 buckets per sq.m., it is useful to fertilize them with sapropel, and apply biohumus.

        Peat and forest soils, as a rule, have an acidic reaction, therefore, during autumn digging, they must be deacidified. In autumn and spring, dolomite flour can be applied; in spring, wood ash or chalk is added for digging. Before liming the soil, it is worth conducting a simple soil analysis that determines the acidity of the soil. For this it is convenient to use test system "Agrochemist" .

        4. Sowing radish

          In the prepared soil, using a chopper or flat cutter, we cut shallow grooves. The distance between the rows of radishes is 10-15 cm, this is enough so that the leaves of adult plants do not overlap each other.

          In order for radish seedlings to appear together, it is necessary to ensure the same depth of seed placement. To do this, it is better to compact the bottom of the planting furrow with a stick or a shovel handle. If the soil is already dry, it is worth shedding furrows before sowing.

          Radishes are often planted as supplementary or compact crops because they it ripens quickly and frees up the bed for the growth of the main vegetables. Radishes can be sown along the perimeter of the garden bed or sown between planted seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, etc. In a greenhouse, it is convenient to sow radishes along the edge of the garden bed, at the aisle. There, he will not interfere with planting seedlings of tomatoes or cucumbers, and it is very convenient to harvest root crops.

          Radish seeds have a high germination rate, so it is better to immediately lay them out neatly, with a distance of 3-5 cm between the seeds, so you do not have to thin out the seedlings.

          The seeds are quite large and very easy to sow. Grooves with seeds are covered with earth, closing them to a depth of 1-1.5 cm. After that, the soil is slammed so that the seeds have better contact with the ground.

          Sowing radish

          In order for the soil to warm up faster, and radish seedlings to appear earlier, it is worth covering the bed with polyethylene or a dense spunbond. However, when using a plastic film, it must be borne in mind that on a sunny day, seedlings can burn under it in a few hours, so immediately after germination, the film must be removed. Using a covering material is less of a hassle.

          Radishes in a greenhouse

          5. Caring for radishes

            Caring for radishes is extremely simple. If the crops have not been thickened, it comes down to regular watering.

            Watering

            Water is the main thing a radish needs. Radishes need to be watered daily, and in the heat twice a day. Ideally, the soil under the radish should always remain slightly moist. Under such conditions, root crops are poured in a matter of days, grow juicy, crunchy, slightly spicy.

            Uneven watering leads to cracking of root crops. They remain edible, but cutting them into a salad is no longer so convenient.

            The lack of water at an early stage leads to the formation of ugly root crops with a thin, hard “neck”. The development of radish is proceeding rapidly. Already on the 3-5th day after the emergence of seedlings, the formation of a root crop begins. During this period, soil moisture is extremely important. If the surface of the earth is dry, then the radish will deepen in search of moisture, the root crop will form deeper, and its upper part will become stiff.

            Thinning seedlings

            For the rapid growth of root crops, plants need free space. If seedlings appeared in bunches, it is better to thin them out immediately, leaving a distance of 5 cm between seedlings. Of course, radishes will grow even with a dense planting, but the harvest time will be postponed, and some of the root crops will grow crooked and ugly.

            Thinned plants

            It is necessary to thin out seedlings as early as possible, in the phase of opened cotyledon leaves. At this point, the radish root is still underdeveloped, and there is less chance of disturbing it when weeding and thinning. Remove excess plants, as well as carry out weeding on moist soil, a few hours after rain or watering.

            Top dressing

            If, when preparing the soil, you applied humus or complex mineral fertilizer, then the radish does not need to be fed. If the soil is poor enough, then when the first true leaves appear, root dressing can be carried out with complex mineral fertilizer.

            Radish fertilizer

            Potassium is needed for root development, so choose a high potassium fertilizer such as "Health Turbo for Carrots and Roots" (NPK= 15:12:22) or "Health Turbo Universal" (NPK=13:10:20).

            It does not make sense to feed radishes with organic nitrogen fertilizers, such as infusion of mullein or chicken manure, as well as green fermentation. The processing of organic matter by bacteria will take some time, by the time the minerals become available, you will have already removed the radish from the garden.

            Organics of animal origin may contain helminth eggs, so it is undesirable to use it for feeding green crops and radishes, because. they are eaten without heat treatment.

            Pest control

            The main pest of radishes is the cruciferous flea. As soon as the soil dries out after the snow melts, and the air warms up, fleas appear on all cruciferous plants. They damage the seedlings of radishes and cabbages, eat watercress, leaf mustard and arugula, do not disdain weeds: shepherd's purse and colza.

            Cruciferous flea on radish

            Cruciferous fleas are numerous, if they attacked plants at the stage of cotyledon leaves, then after 2-3 days there is no trace of seedlings. For older plants, cruciferous fleas are no longer so scary, their activity will not lead to the death of the plant, but the leaves that have turned into a “sieve” no longer cause appetite. For radishes, this is not so scary, but for leafy crops it is crucial.

            In areas overgrown with colza, the cruciferous flea is especially abundant. The use of white mustard, oilseed radish and rapeseed as green manure also increases the number of these insects.

            Getting rid of the cruciferous flea is extremely difficult. Since radishes have a short growing season, it is not possible to apply chemical insecticides. You can reduce the attractiveness of radishes for fleas by dusting the leaves with tobacco dust, ash, or a mixture of them. Dusting is carried out after watering, on wet leaves.

            However, do not get carried away by sprinkling tobacco dust on radishes, residual nicotine is harmful not only to insects, but also to humans. Leaves that have been treated with tobacco dust or Tabazol should not be eaten.

            Watering partially solves the problem of cruciferous flea. These insects love to jump on dry soil and on dry leaves; flea beetles do not like sprinkling. But as soon as the leaves and soil surface dry out, the insects return.

            Sowing radishes in the earliest possible time allows you to harvest before the rampant cruciferous flea. In the greenhouse, it is also possible to grow a crop of radishes with clean leaves, without the use of tobacco dust.

            In open ground, it is better to grow radishes immediately under arcs with covering material, constant humidity is maintained under it, which contributes to the rapid growth of root crops, and cruciferous fleas do not find radishes under spunbond.

            Learn more