Radish is a fast easy crops to grow, making it an ideal starter plant for getting children interested in gardening.
From sowing to eating can take as little as three weeks.
With successional sowings, crops can be produced all year round.
There are many varieties of radish, the summer varieties should be grown quickly for best results.
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They prefer a sunny, fertile, well-drained soil, enriched with well-rotted manure / compost.
Radishes are members of the ‘brassica’ family and therefore are liable to attacks from cabbage root fly and flea beetle and clubroot so treat accordingly.
Note; Due to the short spell they are growing in any given area, one normally ignores this fact when planning a rotation plan.
Slugs and snails can also be a bit of a problem.
Cultivation;
Week 10; Make the first sowings in cold frames or under cloches.
Keep the plants well ventilated once they have germinated.
Give added protection by covering with agricultural fleece or similar during frost.
Week 20; For continuity, make successional sowings outdoors, at 7-10 day intervals, sowing the seeds thinly in 12mm (½") deep drills.
If ground space is limited they can be grown in batches in containers.
They should germinate within a week in the summer months and be ready for picking about two weeks later.
Do not let the roots become overcrowded, otherwise they may make foliage rather than root growth, thin the seedlings as necessary.
In hot summers they benefit from some shade and can be grown in the shadow of other crops.
Keep the bed well watered, and pull the roots as soon as they are large enough, the texture and taste is better in young roots.
To leave them longer often results in them becoming woody or hollow centred.
