Red radish: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
How do you sow red radishes outdoors?
Sow your red radishes in a season suited to the variety, when the soil is easy to work. Small salad radishes generally appreciate cool conditions in spring or late summer. Do not expect sowing in intense heat to produce the same quality. Choose a bright position with well-drained soil.
Remove weeds and large stones, then prepare a fine surface without unnecessarily turning over the entire bed. Make drills about one centimetre deep and roughly fifteen centimetres apart. If the soil is dry, moisten the drills before sowing. Distribute the seeds thinly, cover with fine soil and water gently so you do not move them.
Maintain even moisture until emergence without saturating the ground. Then thin seedlings to leave a few centimetres between plants, taking account of the radish's shape and the variety's instructions. Label rows so you can recognise young leaves when weeding. Sow small amounts at regular intervals during suitable weather. This spreads out harvesting more effectively than a single large sowing and makes it easier to pick the radishes before they become too old.
How to care for this plant
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Thin seedlings
If emerged radishes are already crowded, remove the weakest. Follow packet spacing: winter radishes need more room.
How do you harvest your red radishes?
Harvest small red salad radishes when they reach a useful size and the flesh is still tender and crisp. For round forms, a diameter of around 2 to 3 cm is a common guide, adjusted to the variety. Growth time depends on temperature, water and light. Pull a first sample to check quality if you are unsure; older roots can become hollow, fibrous or very pungent.
Hold the foliage close to the crown and pull gently. If the ground is dry or compacted, moisten it and loosen around the root with a small tool without damaging it. Resistance from the soil does not indicate ripeness. Pick ready radishes first and leave smaller ones to develop, keeping moisture steady. Avoid waiting for the whole row to reach exactly the same size.
Remove the tops after pulling to limit moisture loss from the roots. Sort out damaged radishes, wash the roots and drain them before refrigerating in a suitable container. Use them promptly while they are crisp. Check firmness and condition during storage, whose duration varies with initial freshness and storage conditions. Handle roots gently so their skin remains intact.
Red radish
- Type : Vegetables
- Subtype : Root vegetables
- Botanical Family : Brassicaceae (cruciferous)
Characteristics
- Lifecycle : Annual
- Exposure : Partial Shade
- Frost Hardiness : Frost Resistant
- Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
- Mature height : 15 cm
Sowing & Planting
- Greenhouse crops : Unheated greenhouse
- Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
- Sowing Depth : 1 cm
- Plant Spacing : 5 cm
- Row Spacing : 20 cm
Maintenance
- Maintenance : Low
- Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
- Soil Type : Humus-rich
- Soil pH Preference : Neutral
- Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
- Disease Sensitivity : Low
- Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
- Pollination : Insect-pollinated
- Propagation : Sowing