I’m Growing Radishes At Home (Advice From A Gardener)
Since reading a book called Ikigai: The Japanese Secret To A Long And Happy Life, I have invested much of my time and energy in eating a cleaner diet. One of the key dietary elements of Okinawan’s who reach the ripe old age of 100 are root vegetables. I love sweet potatoes, and I’m currently growing them as well, but in today’s article, I want to share my journey with growing radishes.
I don’t think I ate radishes until my late teens. Believe me, I was that averse to vegetables but that changed in my twenties and I developed an appreciation for all things whole and natural.
I still neglected radishes because they were pretty seasonal crops with a distinct taste. Uncooked, radishes are among the crunchiest and spiciest root vegetables I’ve come across.
But they’re absolutely wonderful and, dare I say, an integral part of a healthy diet.
While at the nursery last week, I came across both red cabbages and radish plants in their vegetative state, so I had to buy them.
They cost about a dollar for an entire tray of 8 radish plants!
That’s a bargain!
I spent Sunday morning preparing the ground to transplant them, and I snapped some pictures of the process, which I have attached below.
Interesting Facts About Radishes
- Radishes are also known by the name Raphanus sativus.
- There are many varieties, such as Cherry Belle (round and red), French Breakfast (long and red with white tip), Scarlet Globe (red with white flesh), Golden Helios (yellow with purple stems), and Daikon (long and white).
- They thrive in full sun and have shallow roots, which prefer frequent watering.
- Typically, raddishes may be harvested within 3 to 4 weeks of being planted in the ground.
Planting Radishes In A Garden
Since radishes thrive in soft and moist soil, I had to clean up the path of soil in my backyard to accommodate them.
As you can tell from the image below, there was a ton of stones, pebbles, and other crap in this area that I had to remove.
I used water to soften the soil so that I could dig up these holes, and then I added more water before adding the radish plants.
Raddishes don’t grow too widely, but at the same time, I didn’t want them to be cramped together so that the shallow roots could spread comfortably.
I want these raddishes to grow as large as possible, so I made sure that each plant had about 3 to 4 inches of space between them.
I could have gone deeper, but I felt like I had enough soil to cover these plants and even out the area.
To encourage growth, I cleaned up the soil further and mixed in some of the residual potting soil from the tray and fertilizer to support these radish plants.
As you can tell, these plants are already producing radishes, which means that they only need a few more weeks, if not less, until they are ready for harvesting.
Seeds were sprouted together, which is why each plant appears to have multiple radishes clumped together.
If I were to grow them from seeds, I would have separated them once they sprouted so that each of my radishes could grow as large as possible.
What I’m also going to do is prune any leaves that have turned yellow to encourage new growth, and I’ll be watering them at least once per day since the soil in this region is so dry.
In a few weeks, I’ll share a progress update along with my findings from trying to grow radishes at home. Until then, feel free to share your thoughts or comments below, because I’d love to hear from you as well.
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