Planting radishes: location & procedure

The cultivation of radishes usually works without any problems. We show you what to look out for when planting or sowing radishes.

radish are at the top of the list of the most popular vegetables in summer. Whether in a salad, on bread or as a dip - the crunchy, mildly hot tubers should not be missing in the summer kitchen. Because of the vitamins, mustard oils and minerals they contain, they are also extremely healthy.

The radish (Raphanus sativus var. sativus) belongs to the genus of radishes (Raphanus) in the cruciferous family (Brassicaceae). The radish, also called radish, originally comes from Asia. Since the 16th It is common in Europe in the 19th century. Cultivation in the garden is uncomplicated and extremely rewarding under our climatic conditions. Radishes can also be cultivated successfully on the balcony. The small, mostly red tubers are ready for harvest just a few weeks after sowing. Due to the short cultivation time of around four weeks, radishes are also very suitable as a pre- or post-crop and as an intercrop between other types of vegetables.

There are a variety of Radish varietieswhich differ on the one hand in their time of cultivation and on the other hand in the characteristics of color, shape and taste. In the round or flat-round varieties, the tuber is formed from the hypocotyl, i.e. the root neck. Elongated varieties include not only the root neck but also the root in their storage organ, which makes the radish longer.

Planting radishes: location and soil

Radishes prefer a sunny to partially shaded location. Especially when growing in midsummer, you should better choose a partially shaded place, otherwise the radishes tend to shoot. Radishes grow in all normal garden soils. For delicate tubers, however, the soil should be loose, humic and ideally evenly moist. Before growing radishes, you should not necessarily fertilize heavily, and certainly not mineral, because radishes are poor eaters and acknowledge over-nutrient-rich soils with susceptibility to diseases and pests, too much leaf and too little Tuber growth. If your soil does not store nutrients well, such as sandy soil, it is worthwhile to halve organic fertilization, for example with ours Plantura organic tomato fertilizer.
Vegetable beds with heavy and rather dense soil should be loosened a little before planting radishes so that the tubers can grow downwards unhindered.
Peat-free potting soil, such as ours, is suitable for growing radishes in pots on the terrace or balcony Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil, very good.

Tip: When a radish begins to flower and grows straight up, it is called a shoot. If you want to harvest seeds, this is desirable. If you want to eat the tuber, however, shooting is undesirable, because it removes water and storage substances from the storage tuber, so that it dries up and becomes inedible.

Sow radishes

Sowing radishes is easy and can take place for most of the gardening year. We'll tell you how to do it.

When can you sow radishes?

Radish cultivation is one of the earliest vegetable crops in the year. The sowing of radishes can begin as early as the end of February, protected in the cold frame, greenhouse or under a film. Usually, however, March is the earliest time to sow radishes and until mid-April it is wise to have a fleece or foil ready to cover in locations that are very susceptible to late frost. From March to the beginning of September you can sow radishes continuously on a weekly basis. So you can enjoy fresh radishes from your own cultivation from the beginning of May until October. But be careful: not all varieties grow well at all times of the year, some shot straight away in warm temperatures without even forming a tuber. Therefore, always choose the right variety depending on the season.

How do you get the radish seeds into the ground?

After the soil has been prepared, the radish seeds can be sown. First, use the handle or on the back of a garden rake or use a grooved tool to make shallow seed grooves. They help to lay the seeds as straight as possible in a row. The sowing depth for radishes is 1 cm. If the radishes are sown too deep, an elongated, woody tuber forms as they grow. Sow the radish seeds in a row, 3 to 4 cm apart. There should be a gap of 10 to 15 cm between the rows. The seed grooves are then closed from the sides so that the seeds are lightly covered with soil. Press it down lightly so that the seeds are not dispersed by rain or wind. At temperatures around 15 ° C and an adequate water supply, the seeds germinate within a few days.

As an alternative to the somewhat laborious individual filing of the radish seeds, the seeds can also be sprinkled directly from the sachet. In this way, however, radishes are usually sown too densely. As a result, no nice round tubers develop. The radishes stay small and elongated and shoot faster. To avoid this, the densely sown radishes have to be pricked out shortly after emergence, i.e. when the seedlings appear above ground. To do this, the plants are carefully removed from the ground with the help of a prick stick or a wooden stick pulled, their roots carefully separated from each other and then again with a greater distance planted.

Tip: Radishes are one of the fastest growing seeds in the garden. That is why they are often used as "marking seeds". Slowly germinating plants such as carrots are often accidentally overseeded because the seeds simply do not germinate for weeks. Those who have sown the rapidly growing radishes here on the left and right tend to remember that carrots should still thrive in the narrow strip in between.

Plant radishes in a pot

Radishes can also be easily grown in the flower box on the balcony. Depending on how many rows you want to sow, you should choose a sufficiently large pot so that you can keep the necessary 10 cm row spacing. There should also be a drainage hole so that excess water can drain away when watering. Fill the pot about 15 cm high with potting soil. The radish seeds can then be sown as described above.

Summary:

• Sowing: beginning of March to beginning of September
• Bed preparation: rake flat and make seed furrows
• For early sowing: seed or Protect seedlings from late frost with fleece or foil
• Seed depth: 1 cm
• Distance in the row: 3 - 4 cm
• Row spacing: 10 - 15 cm
• Cover the radish seeds thinly with soil and press down
• Water daily

Tip: With our Plantura vegetable growing kit growing vegetables is particularly easy. In it you will not only find seeds for five colorful vegetables, but also detailed instructions, a mini greenhouse and other accessories for successful sowing.

Good neighbors for radishes: mixed culture and crop rotation

In a mixed culture, radishes are combined with other types of vegetables in order to optimally use the available space, the nutrients and the vigor of different plants. Species that are comparatively slower growing can be planted under with radishes, as these are harvested before the planting partners become too large and compete for water, nutrients and light. Therefore, you can use radishes and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) plant together and also Corn (Zea mays) is well suited for mixed cultivation as a plant partner. Good neighbors for radishes are also root vegetables such as Carrots (Daucus carota), parsley (Petrosilenum crispum) and Salsify (Scorzonera hispanica). Even Strawberries (Fragaria), Salads, spinach (Spinacia oleracea), Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris), peas (Pisum sativum) and Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are suitable partners for radishes.

In a mixed culture, radishes also get along well with types of cabbage such as savoy (Brassica oleracea convar. capitata var. sabauda), Head cabbage (Brassica oleracea convar. capitata) or Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes). Radishes grow much faster than their relatives and are harvested by the time the cabbage plants close the gaps in the bed. Plant radishes, radish, horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) and other types of cabbage not several times in a row in the same bed because diseases like the Carbonic hernia can occur more frequently.

Good neighbors for radishes at a glance:

• Slower growing plants like tomatoes or corn
• Root vegetables like carrots, parsley, and black salsify
• Strawberries, salads, spinach, Swiss chard, peas and beans
• Types of cabbage such as savoy cabbage, head cabbage, and kohlrabi
• To avoid diseases, never plant radishes and cabbage varieties in the same bed several times in a row

However, not all plants go well with radishes. Bad neighbors are, for example, cucumbers (Cucumis sativus). The heavily draining, but shallow-rooted, climbing cucurbits (Cucurbitaceae) compete with radishes for the root space and quickly put them in distress with their expansive growth.

Care for radishes after planting

After the radishes have been sown, the seedlings must be regularly supplied with sufficient water, as larger fluctuations can lead to furry or burst bulbs. This is the only way to harvest large and crunchy radishes after four to eight weeks. Use a watering attachment when watering, through which the water is finely distributed. Without an attachment, there is a risk that the shallowly sown seeds will be washed away or the seedlings will be damaged.

If you want to find out more about radishes and find out more about pests and the harvesting of radishes, you can read our special article about radish Continue reading.