Radish crop sheet

Sowing

When: February to August

1. Sow early radish crops under fleece, in a polytunnel or under cloches from February to mid-April. Sow later varieties unprotected and cover them from mid to late October depending on frosts in your local area.
2. Sow radish seeds straight into the ground, in containers or into growbags in the spot where they will grow into plants.
3. If sowing in lines, make a drill (channel) in the soil 1.5cm deep. Use a measuring stick to keep it straight if using a trowel or push a bamboo cane horizontally into the soil to the correct depth.
4. Take a pinch of seeds at a time and sprinkle them along the drill evenly until you have a continuous row of seeds.
5. Cover the seeds and cover them with the soil above using the back of a trowel. Label the row and make another one 15cm away and do the same again.
6. If sowing in containers or into growbags you can broadcast sow radish seeds and then rake them into the soil. Alternatively sow them with enough spacing between each seed leaving enough space for them to grow into the final plant size.
7. Water the drill and seeds using a watering can with a rose.

Growing

• When the seedlings are big enough to handle (about 4cm tall), thin them out so there is 2.5cm between each seedling.
• If you have already sown your seeds with a 2.5 cm space between each seed there will be no need to thin the seedlings.
• Keep watering radishes in dry weather as this will help prevent the roots from splitting.
• Radishes are super-fast crop growing from seed to harvest in 4 to 8 weeks depending on the variety. This has made them great space filler in between rows of other lower growing crops and are sometimes called ‘catch crops’. Radish can also be used as a marker for slow germinating crops such as parsnips, onions or garlic. This will help you see where your sown row of parsnips are and gives you the benefit of an additional quick crop of radishes that you can eat before they hinder the growth of your parsnips.
• Remove any weeds that grow around or in between your radishes. This will prevent them being out competed by the weeds and reduce transfer of pests and diseases.
• Radishes are members of the Brassica (cabbage) family and their main pests are slugs and snails who love munching on the young radish seedlings and plants. Sowing more seeds than you need is a good method to reduce damage as you can then thin out the damaged seedlings. Find more information on slugs and snails here.
• Flea beetle is a common pests of radish plants and it damages the leaves by covering them in small holes that will then turn brown. Seedlings are easy targets for the beetles. The best way to prevent Flea Beetle attacks is to cover your radish seedlings in fleece and ensure the soil is watered regularly and kept moist.

Harvesting

When: May to January

• Harvest your radishes when they are young and big enough to pull up, when the roots are roughly 2.5cm wide. Remember young radishes are tender to eat whilst older ones can become woody.
• Pull up radishes as required and eat them fresh out of the ground, after wash.
• Harvest later sown varieties throughout the winter.

Using

• Radishes are great eaten freshly picked. They also taste wonderful fried with a little bit of butter.
• Why not try turning your radishes into a tasty salad, pickling them, making a creamy potato and radish salad, add them to a stir fry or to a noodle salad.