Radishes are the perfect cool weather filler crop. You can pack them in super tight, you get a harvest really, really quickly, and then you can free up the space to plant something else. I like to grow them twice, once in the spring and again in the fall.
Several years ago, I decided to up my radish game and plant a larger variety. I liked them all so much, I continue to rotate a few different varieties each season:
- Round Black Spanish {looked exotic}
- French Breakfast {my favorite}
- Crimson Giant {these are nice, fat and crunchy}
- Watermelon {cool factor}
- Easter Egg {because the are pretty}
How to Grow Radish from Seed:
Radishes are definitely a set it and forget it type of seed. They grow so fast that it’s time to harvest them before you really have to do anything to encourage them. Plant the seeds 1/2″ deep and 1″ apart {like I said, you can really pack them in there}. I plant several seeds in a long trench and then thin them out to one plant per 1″ when the seedlings start to emerge. If you are limited on garden space, radishes are happy to perform in containers.
As an added bonus, radishes planted in between the rows of cucumbers, spinach and squash will help to repel unwanted insects.
When are Radishes Ready to Harvest?
The key to mild tasting radishes is to pick them when they are small, at about 1-1/2″ to 2″ in diameter. If you let them get too big, they start to split/crack and they taste really strong…and tough.
Random Facts That Will Impress No One:
Horseradish is a type of long radish. It has high amounts of allyl isothiocyanates, which is what causes it to taste so spicy and pungent.
There are several varieties of radishes, they range in color from white, pink, red, purple, yellow and green. They are the Skittles of the gardening world–only I think you’d have a hard time convincing kids of that.
In the past, radish has been used to relieve stomach aches, regulate blood pressure, treat kidney stones, eliminate intestinal parasites, and cure skin issues. That’s a pretty impressive list for a small little radish.
Will you be growing radishes this fall?
~Mavis
P.S. For more growing tips and recipe ideas, I recommend Grow Cook Eat by Willi Galloway. It will walk you through everything radishes {and more}.
Barb says
I like radishes but hadn’t had much luck growing them–they were always too woody. However, this year I planted them and didn’t care if they were good or not since I just wanted the leaves to make radish pesto–and I did something right this time because they grew nicely and weren’t woody at all–and I got a lot of leaves for pesto.
Ellen in Clackamas says
my spring radishes were a total fail… . there were others at my workplace who also had problems so I am not the only one not successful with this very easy seed! I have more seeds and am going to try a fall planting. Will see how it goes!
JessB says
My kids love radishes grown in the spring and fall as they aren’t hot then. We can’t keep enough in the house for them.