John Myers
Growing radishes is one of the easiest gardening activities. Sown today and four weeks later freshly harvested on sandwiches or in salads. Radish farming keeps what it promises – always a successful harvest. Provided you follow a few rules.
There is always time for radishes – from March to September
Anyone who starts growing radishes at the beginning of March will harvest the first tender tubers at the beginning of spring. Depending on the variety, they only need 30 days to ripen. Due to their short cultivation period of four to eight weeks, they can be planned as a pre-or post-culture of other types of vegetables.
Radishes may only be cultivated again at the same location three years later at the earliest. If crop rotation is not observed, diseases and pest infestations will increase.
Prepare seed area and plant radishes
Radishes love bright, semi-shady places. Either in the garden bed, balcony box, or planter. Radishes thrive in a mixture of normal garden soil or potting soil with compost and some sand. You should not show them as a neighbor of melons or cucumbers. These remove too much water from the tubers.
Sow radishes in rows. Maintain a row spacing of about 10 centimeters and about 4 centimeters when sowing. Otherwise, the radish plants have to be laboriously pricked out at a later date. Radishes are thirsty! Keep evenly moist during the growing season. But avoid waterlogging!
Harvest and enjoy radishes
Radishes are simply pulled out of the ground by their leaves. They taste best freshly harvested on the table, in a salad, or as a topping for bread. Wrapped in a damp cloth, the tubers without the herb can be stored in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days.
Delicious radishes are easy to grow in balcony boxes (€34.00 at Amazon*) or in beds. The red tubers require little care and mature so quickly that they are ideal for beginners or a children’s bed. It is a pleasure to watch them grow and to be able to reap the fruits of their labor in just 4 weeks.
Radish Pests and Diseases
From the middle of May, there is a danger from above from the cabbage fly and the cabbage white. A net over the radish bed protects the seed. Fleas from below settle in the dry soil. These can be held off by constant soil moisture.
Immediately remove radishes infected with black radish fungus. Their rapid growth spares radishes from many pests and diseases. Before larvae, viruses, or germs develop, the tubers are harvested and eaten.
Tips and tricks
Do you want to surprise your guests? Or inspire children with young garden vegetables? These radish mice are guaranteed to be well received, are healthy, and taste absolutely delicious. You can bet your green fingers on that: everyone likes to eat radish mice – bon appetit!
