Radishes are fun to plant because they grow so quickly from seed. Usually about 30 days after planting, they’re ready to harvest. Children love growing radishes because they see the fruit of their labor while the other vegetables in the garden are no where near ready to harvest.
They come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. There are red globe radishes, large daikon white radishes, fingerling radishes, pink radishes… you can even pick from mild to hot peppery varieties. They are all simple to grow and keep well in the refrigerator drawer.
Pick a square in the front half of your bed. Radish tops grow to about 5″ tall, so they won’t shade anything. Most varieties can be sown 36 to a square, or 2″ apart. The general rule in planting seeds is to plant them twice as deep as the diameter of the seed. Radish seeds are small, so use a pencil point to plant them. Take a ruler or stick and mark off squares 6 x 6 in each square foot you want to plant. Just make little dents in the soil so you can see the resulting 2″ squares. Stick the pencil point in the center of each square and drop in 1 seed per square. Use the pencil tip to push the seeds down a bit, and when al the seeds are planted, sprinkle soil over the square, pat down lightly and soak with a mist.
It’s important to never let any seedlings dry out. Here in South Florida, that may require twice a day misting, early morning and late afternoon. If you have critters that like to dig in the garden, you can put a tomato cage over the newly planted squares. Just fold it up and lay it on its side and it will discourage digging.
Radishes, like all root vegetables, like watering at least every other day once they’re no longer seedlings.
You can plant radishes in any container with good drainage as well.
Happy Gardening!
Marian
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