How To Grow Radishes For Beginners

Since 2024 rolled in, I have set a goal for myself to grow as many vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers as possible in my garden. I know, I know, it’s an audacious goal and one that I didn’t know where to begin with. But the advice that helped me was to simply get started and to try germinating or growing everything at my disposal.

And I have! These last few months have been some of the most rewarding in my time as a gardener. I have grown so many new things and among my favorites are radishes.

It took some careful planning and research to figure out exactly what was needed to properly grow radishes. And I did! In fact, I made a video for my YouTube channel about harvesting radishes I grew in my backyard. If you’d like to check that out, here’s the video:

All About Growing Radishes

Radishes are a type of root vegetables that grows in many varieties, including red, white, purple, and black radishes. Some of the most common types of radishes are Daikon (popularly used in Asian cuisines), french breakfast, and cherry belle.

Upon researching, I was fascinated to learn that citizens of Okinawa relied on root vegetables for nourishment after the war. This frequent consumption of root vegetables have frequently been attributed to their good health and large percentage of centenarians.

But, for the Okinawans, root vegetables were a reliable and fast-growing source of food, which had a positive side effect on their longevity.

I find radishes to be a wonderful way of adding crunch and natural spiciness to any salad. It’s easy to grow and even easy to maintain, making it an ideal vegetable to grow for beginners.

Growing Conditions

1. Soil: They prefer well-drained and loose soil with a balanced pH of between 6.0 and 7.0.
2. Sunlight: They thrive in full-sun and need about 6 hours of exposure for optimal growth.
3. Watering: Given the size and texture of radishes, they require ample nourishment in the form of nutrients and daily watering to grow.

Planting

Sowing Seeds: Radish seeds can be sprouted in wet tissue paper, in plastic containers, or directly in the garden. It is advisable to sow seeds about 1/2 to 1 inch deep and many inches apart from each other. Radish seeds should be sown directly into the garden, as they do not transplant well. 

Thinning: When you notice adequate growth in the seedlings, try thinning them to promote the development of roots instead.

Succession Planting: If you would like a continuous harvest, try planting radish seeds every two to three weeks.

Care

Soil maintenance: The size of radishes is affected by the quality of soil. If it is hard, rocky, or devoid of space, air, and moisture, the radishes will struggle to expand and grow in size. Sift through all the rocks and pebbles and treat the soil with compost or liquid fertilizer before planting for optimal growing conditions.

Weeding: As much as possible, keep the radish bed free of weeks as they can compete for nutrients and water.

Pests and Diseases: Despite being hardy and resistant, they can be affected by pests like beetles, aphids, and diseases such as clubroot. Good garden hygiene can mitigate this issue. Alternatively, use a mixture of neem oil to repel such bugs and pests.

Protrusion and damage: Given that radishes tend to break through the surface of the ground, they can be susceptible to damage from rain, wind, excessive sunlight, and pests. To avoid these issues, you could blanch them by creating a heap of soil around the bulbs to protect them.

Watering: Despite what you may read online about watering, be sure to keep the soil and radishes well hydrated, especially if you live in a region with high humidity levels. I would water them every morning and night, but you could also create an irrigation system with plastic bottles and a straw to slowly feed water to the soil throughout the day.

Harvesting

Timing: It can take as long as 8 weeks for radishes to reach full maturity and as little as 3 weeks. Once they reach the size of a medium or large gold ball, harvest them.

Storage: Once harvested, radishes can be stored in the fridge for weeks or fermented in a bottle to create a probiotic-rich side dish.

Process: You can pull them right out of the ground with the roots intact and clean them for consumption.

Benefits Of Eating Radishes

Nutritional Value: Radishes are known for being low in calories, low in sugar, and rich in polyphenols, vitamins C and B6, potassium, and fiber. 

Culinary Uses: Radishes are quite versatile and can be consumed  raw in salads, pickled, roasted, or used in a variety of dishes for a crunchy texture and peppery flavor. Personally, I love to use radishes in homemade ramen or stews.

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