Radishes

Radishes are easy to grow, grow quickly and can be grown all year round.

You should plant radishes in soil that is porous, easily worked and in a fine tilth.

The soil should have been previously dressed with manure, so that it is rich in humus.

Sow radish seeds thinly.

Cover them with a small amount of soil, no more than ½ inch thick.

Firm up the soil after you have sown the seeds.

Radish bulbs will not form well if the soil is too loose.

You can grow early crops of radishes in frames on hotbeds.

The radishes can share the frames with another crop that grows more slowly, so that the radishes serve as a catch crop.

Do not sow the radishes too quickly. The radishes will not form good roots, and the other crop in the frame can be damaged because of overcrowding.

If you are growing radishes with another crop, keep the radishes at last 3 inches apart. If they grow closer, thin them immediately.

Pull up your radishes as soon as they are big enough to use.

When you pull up the crop, be sure to remove all the small, immature plants because they will soon grow large tops that can overshadow the other plants.

You can also grow an early radish cop by making a hotbed in the beginning of February.

The hotbed should be about one inch thick and placed in a shallow trench or on the ground's surface.

Place 3 inches of light soil on the hotbed.

After you have sown the radish seeds, cover the bed with litter or with mats.

Remove the coverings during the day and the replace them at night.

If you take good care of your radishes, they should be ready about 5 weeks after you have sown the seeds.

If you prefer to plant your radishes in the open, you will find that it is difficult to get an early crop from land that is heavy and sticky unless you get rid of excess damp and make the surface friable.

For an early crop, you must make sure that the soil is well drained.

Cover the surface is covered with 4 inches of light compost.

If the soil is already light, well drained and warm, all you have to do is make sure the soil is in as fine a tilth as possible.

When possible, try to ensure that there are sunken pathways in between the beds so that excess moisture will run away quickly.

For outdoor sowing, the earliest sowings can be made between December and February.

You should sow radish seeds in the sunniest and most sheltered positions that you can, such as at the foot of a fence or between a row of bushes.

Seedbeds should be 4 to 5 feet wide.

Scatter the seeds over the soil, rake them in, and then cover them with fine soil.

Once you have sown your radish seeds, cover them with litter that is 3 or 4 inches thick.

When the seeds have germinated, rake off the litter every day, but replace it whenever there is snow or frost.

As soon as the plants have become strong, you do not have to cover them when the weather is mild, but keep the litter available in case it becomes frosty again.

You should thin the seedlings when it is necessary.

Seeds can be sown fully in the open again in March and April.

You can also sow radish seeds from May through August, but the seeds must be sown where it is cool and moist.

Radishes do not grow well in hot, dry weather when they are fully exposed to the sun.

You can plant radishes in between thinly sown rows of other crops such as peas, cauliflower and lettuce. The other crops will provide the radishes with shade.

Radish seeds can be sown on open ground from the end of August to the end of October, after the soil has been moistened by a few rain showers.

The soil will need to be protected by litter for the latest sowings.

You can plant your radishes where crops that required heavy manuring, such as celery, were recently cleared. Make sure that the soil has been dug deeply and leveled and that the soil surface is in a fine tilth.