Many gardeners rave about how quickly radishes sprout and how satisfying they are to cultivate. It’s time to give the mighty radish its due. Discover excellent tips and tricks for how to grow radishes, how to harvest radishes, and even a recipe or two for the incredible yield.
Raphanus sativus or radishes are brassicas and part of the cabbage and mustard family. They’re easy-growing, nutrient-packed root crops and are great for impatient gardeners and those who need instant gratification in the garden. Many radish varieties are ready for harvest in about 25 days, which is a speedy harvest by any standards.
Little radishes are a pleasure to grow, boasting a surprisingly dense nutritional profile, as they’re a terrific source of vitamins and antioxidants. Once you read a little more about this fascinating, fast-growing plant, you’ll want to try sowing every variety in your vegetable garden. We won’t blame you, because radishes are amazing.
Are You Ready to Try Harvesting Radishes?
Growing radishes is an ideal way to get a gorgeous little crop in under a month. Discover how to reap the rewards of radish harvest time with these helpful hints.
Learn about different radish varieties, when to pick radishes, and how to prepare your fresh garden harvest for maximum deliciousness. You can grow a radish in a pot, raised bed, or the garden and enjoy tasty roots for weeks.
There are All Kinds of Radishes
Radishes come in a rainbow of colors; red, pink, purple, white, and even black. There are over 100 radish varieties available, and they’re all charming in their own way. The watermelon radish, for example, is a type of Chinese daikon radish with a gorgeous fuchsia interior. This unique daikon radish is slightly sweet and reaches maturity in about 65 days.
An ancient heirloom radish variety called Black Spanish has black skin and striking white insides. The Black Spanish radish takes about 55 days to mature and tastes very sharp, like horseradish.
Cherry Belle radishes are the perfect round red radish if you prefer a milder flavor. They’re a satisfying crop to grow because the average time to harvest is only about 25 days.
Raphanus sativus is a diverse genus; don’t worry too much about how to harvest radishes until you’ve narrowed the choices for planting radishes. French Breakfast is another super-popular radish variety for home gardens with a unique, oblong shape. French Breakfast radishes mature in a month and have a crisp, peppery flavor.
Some Notes on Radish Growth
Before diving into the finer points of when to harvest radishes, let’s talk about ideal growing conditions. Generally, most of the different types of radish enjoy cool weather and come as either early spring radishes or winter radishes to meet your seasonal garden needs.
Radish seeds are ok to sow as soon as the ground is workable – they stand up well to chilly conditions. Radishes enjoy six to eight hours of full sun daily but won’t thrive in persistently hot weather.
When summer temperatures reach 75 degrees or higher, your crops may grow spindly little roots that look more like tiny carrots than round radishes. Sowing radish seeds at the height of summer also means your radishes are prone to bolting or going to seed, making the radish inedible.
Spacing and thinning are also vital to the success of your radish crop. Sow your radishes about an inch apart, and thin the scraggly shoots once they sprout. Thinning is essential because your radishes need room to grow and expand; they can’t do that if they’re pressing on each other.
Add a bit of mulch to keep the weeds away; radishes don’t want to fight for space. Keep your radish plant’s soil moist but not soggy to encourage large, delicious radish roots.
Common Radish Pests
A few common pests could affect the quality and quantity of your yield when harvesting radishes. Flea beetles are attracted to many brassica family members and go right after your tender radish greens. Root maggots or cabbage root maggots are regular garden pests that tunnel into the plant’s root, damaging your radish crop.
Protect your little radishes from airborne pests like flea beetles using row covers, insect netting, or horticultural fleece. Plant radishes in late summer, after the threat of pest season has passed.
Consider adding wood ash to your garden soil to prevent soil-borne pests like root maggots. Practice regular crop rotation or grow a bait crop like broccoli or cauliflower to draw attention away from your radishes.
Propagating Your Favorite Radish Plants
Propagating a radish plant from a seed is very satisfying, especially if you have a perfect crop and you want to pass those good genes on for the next growing season. Radishes are annual plants, and they won’t come back the following year. It’s good garden planning to ensure the preservation of hardy radish seeds for future yields.
To harvest your radish seeds, leave some of your radishes to develop seed pods, and allow the pods to dry on the radish plant. Once the pods brown, pull the plant and leave it upside down in paper or plastic bags. As soon as the seedpods are completely dry, the seeds fall into the bag for easy collection and storage for next year.
When to Harvest Radishes
How long does it take for radishes to grow? As a general rule, the larger the radish, the longer it takes to mature. For example, upon sprouting, the Sakurajima Giant variety takes around 100 days to develop and is usually 15 pounds at the time of harvest.
To get a firm idea of when to harvest radishes, follow the guidelines listed on the radish seed packet. Once the suggested harvest date arrives, pull a healthy-looking radish, and if it’s round, red, and mature, chances are the others will be, too.
If not, come back in a week and check again. Don’t worry; most radishes range from 25 to 60 days to harvest and will have your table full of veggies in no time. Generally, the sooner you harvest the radishes, the better. If left too long, the delicious root becomes woody and unpalatable.
When to Harvest Radishes with Succession Planting
Let’s learn about how to harvest radishes with succession planting. Succession planting means sowing seeds in succession, usually every two weeks, to ensure a continuous harvest of radishes during the growing season. It’s a fantastic way to keep the table full throughout the year if your hardiness zone allows it.
Radishes are hardy in zones 2 to 11 in America and can be grown year-round in some climates. Cherry Belle matures in 25 days; if you start sowing radish seeds in April, you’ll have a harvest by May.
With succession planting, you ensure another radish harvest biweekly until the weather gets too hot for your little radishes to thrive. Since radishes don’t take up a lot of space, you can pop the seeds in wherever there’s a bit of room in the garden. Start planting again in late summer for a great fall crop, and continue until it gets too cold.
How to Harvest Radishes and Radish Greens
Often, radishes are visible a bit above the soil line, and it’s easy to make an educated guess about which radishes are ready for harvest. Pluck a radish out of the dirt and look for a root about an inch in diameter.
Cut off the green and the root tail at the bottom, and give the radish a quick rinse. Your fresh, crunchy radish is ready to slice, bake, or sauté.
Did you know radish greens, or radish tops make a pretty good dish? All radish greens are edible and add a fresh punch of flavor to salads or side dishes. Some radish greens grow with a hairy texture; fortunately, that’s easily solved with a quick blanching or picking the leaves while they’re very young and tender.
Snip the fresh young greens for individual use in salads, but leave enough leaves for the radish to make nutrients from the sun.
Radish Green Pesto Recipe
Harvesting radishes provides great culinary benefits; they’re incredibly diverse and good for your body. You can even sauté the radish greens in a bit of butter and put them on tacos, scrambled eggs, or stir-fry.
Here’s a delicious recipe for radish pesto made from fresh greens. Turnips are a substitute for radishes in this recipe. Pop this pesto on some crusty bread or add a swirl to your soup; it’s just that good.
Combine your pine nuts, peeled garlic, salt, and pepper in the blender or processor and give it a good spin. Add the lemon juice, and pulse a second time. Add the basil and those glossy radish greens and give it another thorough blending until all the large pieces break down and the texture becomes creamy.
Drizzle in some of your preferred olive oil, and give it one last blend – add extra olive oil for a smoother radish green pesto. This recipe makes approximately one cup of pesto and is easily multiplied for a larger serving.
Nutritional Profile
Round radishes are actually pretty robust in the nutrition department. Radishes have about 16 calories per 100 grams and provide measurable amounts of potassium, folate, and vitamin B6. Additionally, one serving of radishes gives your body about 24% of its required daily intake of vitamin C.
Harvesting radishes is a simple, effective way to bolster your mealtime nutrition intake. We could all use a little more of that.
Roasted Radish Recipe
Those tiny radishes pack a punch when it comes to flavor, but the taste isn’t for everyone. However, roasting radishes is a marvelous way to win over those who aren’t keen on the flavor, as roasting makes radishes much milder. These garlic-roasted radishes also make an excellent potato substitute on a low-carb nutritional plan.
Set your oven to 425°F. Prep your fresh garden radishes by washing them, removing the greens, cutting off the root end, and cutting each radish in half. Combine your radishes, melted butter, salt, and pepper in a big bowl and give everything a mix until the radishes are well-coated.
Get a baking dish at least 9×13 inches, lay the radishes out in a single layer, and they’re ready for the oven. Baked radishes take about 25 minutes to cook through. After the first ten minutes of cook time, pull the baking tray out and add the minced garlic. This slight delay ensures the garlic doesn’t burn.
Bake until the radish is tender and easily pierced with a fork. Serve these garlicky roasted radishes with a drizzle of olive oil, a dollop of sour cream, or some ranch dressing.
When are radishes ready to harvest? Well, that depends on the radish. There’s a lot of diversity in the radish world, and each unique radish completes its growing time relative to its size.
If you choose small varieties like Cherry Belle or French Breakfast, expect to see red radishes in a month. However, if you grow larger radishes like Black Spanish or Daikon Long, expect a harvest closer to 60 days.
Making meals with fresh harvest-radishes is so simple and satisfying that there’s no reason not to try it in your own vegetable garden this season. There’s a radish variety for everyone, no matter how flavorful you prefer your veggies.
Learning how to harvest radishes is an excellent benefit to your garden, health, and meal plan. With a bit of know how, we’re confident you’ll have a ravishing radish patch in no time.
If you enjoyed learning how to harvest radishes, share this article with a friend on Pinterest or Facebook who loves radishes and wants the best tips for radish harvest time.