Growing Radish

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

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The second half of July is the time of repeated sowing of radish in the beds

As soon as the snow melts, and you can already make the beds, every gardener is in a hurry to sow radish first, which is rightfully considered the very first and most desirable among spring vegetables. And this is not surprising, because it has exceptional taste - crispy, juicy and sweet pulp of excellent taste.

In addition, this plant is very useful - one bunch of 4-5 radishes will fully satisfy your daily need for vitamin C, and in early spring this is more than relevant. In addition, radish is rich in minerals: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and other microelements, and the enzymes contained in it enhance metabolism and promote better assimilation of protein foods.

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At the same time, not only root crops are useful, but also tender, vitamin-rich greens. It should not be thrown away in early spring, when other greens are not yet abundant - it is better to use it in salads, as well as for cooking and stewing in vegetable dishes and green soups, just like cabbage.

Radish preferences

Everyone knows from childhood why radishes are valued. Ideally, it should be crisp, juicy, sweet (at least certainly not bitter), tender (no coarse fibers), and not wormy. Alas, this radish does not grow in everyone and not always. There are many reasons for this. On the one hand, radish is not such a simple culture as it seems at first glance, but on the other hand, the cruciferous flea is very partial to it, and not only it is one. In other words, when growing radish, you need to take into account its preferences and follow certain agrotechnical techniques. Let's start with preferences.

Radish prefers to grow on loose, fertile neutral soils. On acidic soils, it is strongly affected by the keel and does not give a crop. Therefore, greenhouses and hotbeds are optimal for early spring sowing of radishes, and for summer crops - high ridges formed on all kinds of plant residues and having soil taken from the greenhouse as the top layer, flavored with a decent amount of ash. In this case, the soil turns out to be quite fertile and loose, which is what the radish needs.

This is a very light-loving plant, therefore, well-lit areas should be allocated for radishes, and it should not be sown thickly - with dense sowing, the plants will shade each other, and this will lead to arrowheading, and they will not yield a crop. Thinning, even timely, may not provide the desired results, since shaded plants immediately stop growing and no longer want to form normal root crops.

The best results are obtained with single-line or double-line seeding. For early spring sowing, it makes sense to sow one line of radish along the inner sides of the greenhouse or along all four sides of the greenhouses at a distance of 10-12 cm from each other - the rest of the space of greenhouses and greenhouses is filled with other crops. When sowing in summer on separate narrow ridges, seeds are sown in two lines with a distance between plants of 10-12 cm and between rows - 15-20 cm.

Radish belongs to very moisture-loving plants, at the slightest drying out of the soil, the roots stop filling, become coarse, fibrous and crack.

So that watering the radish does not turn into a complete punishment - after all, on sunny days it sometimes takes up to two or three watering, and this is far from everyone can afford, it is better to mulch the soil around the plants. This can be done, for example, with stale sawdust or needles, and cover the plants with covering material on top.

Radish is extremely demanding for soil aeration. Therefore, you need to carry out regular loosening. Mulching will help to reduce their number again. And the plants will be fine, and you will free yourself from unnecessary work.

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Radish belongs to plants with short daylight hours - 12 hours are enough for full growth and development. If the day is too long, the plants grow quickly, which is why beginner gardeners cannot grow good radishes in areas with white nights. And with a short daylight hours, the radish plants stretch out and turn out to be unable to form full-fledged root crops.

Based on this, it is necessary to choose the optimal time for sowing radish - April-May or late July-early August. This statement is true for a considerable part of the varieties, especially the old ones. However, now on the shelves you can already find varieties of radish resistant to flowering, which can be sown throughout the summer.

Radish belongs to very cold-resistant plants - it can withstand a temporary drop in temperature to -1 … -2 ° C, and adult plants even up to -3 … -4 ° C. However, prolonged exposure to low temperatures can degrade the quality of root crops. Therefore, early planting, for example, in early spring conditions - in late March-early April - is possible only in greenhouses and hotbeds on insulated soil, followed by additional covering of plants with covering material or film. The most favorable temperature for radish growth from the moment of sowing to the beginning of root crop formation is + 12 … + 15 ° C, and at the time of filling the root crops, it is desirable to increase it to + 15 … + 18 ° C.

Features of agricultural technology radish

There are some tricks when growing radishes. Severe damage to radishes by cabbage flies and cruciferous fleas is particularly problematic. They can completely destroy seedlings of plants or ensure that the gardener receives a completely wormy crop. To combat this scourge, it is recommended to dust the plants with ash, tobacco dust or one of the mixtures: dry mustard and ash, ground red pepper and ash (in both cases, the ratio is 1: 1).

Alas, such pollination gives a result only if the plants are covered all the time with a similar substance, that is, after each watering they have to be pollinated again, which requires additional efforts. It is much more effective to cover the plantings with a covering material, which will preserve moisture in the soil, and help the plants develop more intensively, and protect them from pests. And in the case of early spring crops, it will also protect against frost, and also generally increase the temperature in the zone of plant development and thereby accelerate the formation of the crop.

It should also be noted that radish is a very early ripening culture. There are varieties that can form a harvest in 18-20 days. Therefore, it is wiser to sow radish seeds at a fixed interval of time, for example, once every 7-10 days, in order to extend the period of using this useful vegetable.

Harvesting radish

In no case should you be late with the harvesting of radishes; when overexposed, the roots become inedible - cottony and tasteless. To keep the harvested crop longer, you need to harvest the radishes in the morning after the evening watering. You should immediately cut off the tops (in no case cut off the roots), wash the roots, dry them slightly in the breeze in the shade and immediately send them to the lower compartment of the refrigerator in an ajar plastic bag.

The vegetable harvested in this way is well preserved for up to 7 days. Radish not watered in the evening before the morning harvest will be poorly stored and turn out to be flabby.