Agree, there is no root crop more precocious than radish! But in order to get a good crop, you need to know a number of conditions for planting and caring for radishes in open ground. Three weeks is enough and crisp, juicy radishes will appear on the table. A pleasant feeling of the coming spring is provided. Everyone knows what demand radishes use in spring at seasonal times. And it is far from necessary that it be a classic-looking radish - pink-red with a white tip.
Why radishes go early in the arrow
It happens that you carry with landing and you will not get any harvest. Many amateur growers ask the question: why does the radish go early in the arrow, not giving good root crops? The reason for this may be poor quality seeds. It was with me, and with many others.
I bought seeds at the store, and they were poor quality. They look so large, the variety is traditional: early Pink-red with a white tip. I remember I bought a lot, sowed in a greenhouse and in the garden (under the film). And everywhere the radish went to the arrow. My friends also bought in the store, but what's the point. And the land walked, and worked for nothing, and radishes did not eat.
After that, I grow the seeds myself, but I also use purchased ones, of course.
Your radish seeds, how to grow
It is not difficult to grow your seeds. Seyu radish early, in March, under the film. I’m not sowing under the film because it’s cold. The film will keep the soil moist and the seeds will sprout faster. This applies to any variety. Especially early it does not need to be sown. Some are sown in February. I did it too. But, when it’s cold, and in February in the Kuban the weather is unpredictable: it’s warm, like in summer, then frost will suddenly strike, then the ground will become covered with hoarfrost. The earth does not have time to warm up and the radish grows solid, fleecy. And when you sow at the optimum time, it grows large and grows rapidly.
For seeds I select large, early-ripening root crops, typical for the variety in color and shape. I plant these root crops in the ground in April-May in an ordinary way. I pluck the top leaves for better engraftment. It seems to me that after the leaves are torn, root crops root better. I water the garden. If necessary, I process it from pests.
When the seed pods are fully ripe, that is, they turn brown, I cut them off and lay them out so that they dry well. After this, the pods are easily split and the seeds are easily separated from them. I winn them and dry them a little more. I put it in storage in paper bags. Seeds collected from such plants, subject to agricultural technology, give a good harvest.
Poor seeds occur if the seeds were harvested without any selection from the early flower stems due to adverse conditions.
But it happens like this: the seeds are good, and the plants formed peduncles, not root crops. So, the rules of agricultural technology were violated: the soil is dense, dry due to sparse watering, crops are thickened and clogged with weeds.
Landing in the open ground, the intricacies of sowing and care
To get a good harvest of radishes, I dig the ground in the fall, adding humus there. The soil will freeze over the winter, it becomes loose, soft, without lumps.
Seyu radish in its reliable method. I make rows in 15-20 cm. I abundantly water the bed. Then I spread the seeds (not densely), immediately sprinkle the seeds with my hands and trample the bed with the back of the chopper so that all the seeds are in close contact with the soil, then they will sprout well and together. Of course, such a planting of radishes is not such a quick process, but it is reliable. I do not water the bed until the seedlings appear, and so that the soil does not dry out, I cover it with a film.
Early varieties must be sown early. There are a lot of them now. The earliest is an 18-day-old Radish long, pink with a white tip. Behind it is a variety - radish pink-red with a white tip - 20-25 days. Then Saxa Nova and many others. There are middle and late grades.
Some gardeners argue that summer crops do not produce crops. I also tried to sow in the summer. I didn’t notice that the root crops did not work out. The main thing is to water it so that there is always moisture. Usually did summer crops between rows of corn. It gives a slight shadow to the garden of the radish and it tolerates the heat more easily. That's only in the summer the radish is not in demand, because there are other seasonal vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers. Therefore, I do not practice radish summer crops.
Seyu radish in the fall in September and October. There is a warm autumn and radishes remain in the garden until the New Year. Radish salad looks good on the New Year's table. Such a festive salad cannot be without green onions. I take small bulbs, cut the tops and keep in water for 8 hours. Then I plant these bulbs near the radish or between the rows. And the onion has time to grow along with the radish! And no problem. Give it a try!
I hope my experience in planting and caring for radishes comes in handy.