A veggie that can be easy to overlook, radishes are easy and fast to grow, offering a crunchy texture and peppery flavor that’s made it popular in Mexican cuisine.
Check out all our radishes varieties: Cherry Belle Seed, French Breakfast Seed
Are Radishes Taken For Granted?
Given their ubiquity on the supermarket produce shelf and in restaurant salads, we suspect that many people take radishes for granted. Even gardeners are guilty: many plant quick-germinating radishes among other slower-growing vegetables such as carrots and/or cucumbers—prone to being overtaken by weeds—to mark their location so newly-emerged seedlings won’t be pulled out mistakenly as weeds!
Interesting Facts About Radishes Plants
Radishes Gardening Tips
Easy
Full sun.
Keep soil uniformly moist but soaked. As always, be sure to water gently when seeds are first planted and just after seedlings appear. Early morning watering is best.
Well-drained, loose, cool soil works best. Well-drained, loose, cool (45°F) soil works best.
50-65°F is ideal for growing plants.
Direct sow seeds outdoors in early spring after the danger of frost has passed. Plant again in early fall, per seed packet planting instructions. Depending on variety, radish plants typically mature 21-30 days from seeding.
Plant seeds ¼-½ ” deep. Thin 2″ seedlings to 2-3 inches apart (refer to seed packet for details).
3-10 days, 45-85° F. Seeds won’t germinate above 95°.
Organic fertilizer can be added at planting time.
Important to reduce weeds and conserve soil moisture.
Homegrown radishes grown from seed aren’t particularly prone to problems. Insect threats include flea beetles, aphids and caterpillars that will munch on the foliage. Cutworms can be a problem for seedlings.
For best results, rotate crops every 2-3 years.
Beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, melons, nasturtium, onions, spinach, squash and tomatoes.
Yes, especially since they’re so fast growing!
Harvesting Radishes
Pull up your radishes from the ground as soon as the roots start to stick up out of the soil. Don’t leave them for too long; otherwise they will become too tough and fibrous. Their flavor is dependent on temperature: generally the cooler it is, the milder they will be. Harvest them before it gets too hot.
Growing Radishes—Highlights
- Easy and fast-growing, consider putting radishes on your short-list of crops to grow from seed.
- One of the best vegetables for children to grow from seed since they provide the closest thing to ‘instant gratification’ (Cherry Belle and Sparkler varieties, especially).
- Ranging from mild to spicy, radishes not only make a delightful crunchy addition to any salad or sandwich, they’re also delicious as a snack or appetizer on their own.
- Our heirloom homegrown radishes—in different sizes and shapes—will knock your socks off, particularly if you’ve only ever tasted mass-market varieties.
- Cold and light-frost-tolerant, radish seeds can be planted continuously early and late in the growing season and harvested well into the fall, though they will bolt in in the height of summer’s heat.
- Similar to many other vegetables you can grow in your garden, radishes are low calorie and high in fiber. They’re a great source of folate, riboflavin and potassium, as well as vitamin B6 and other minerals.
Our Radishes Varieties
Ingredients
- 9 cups peeled and chopped tomatoes (peel first, see below)
- 2 1/2 cups chopped green bell peppers
- 2 1/2 cups chopped white onion
- 4 medium jalapeños, chopped (substitute 2 of the jalapeños for 2 cayenne peppers for extra hot salsa)
- 8 large cloves garlic, chopped
- 6 teaspoons canning salt
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste
Instructions
- Remove tomato skins. Make an “X” in the bottom of the tomatoes, then place in boiling water for 60 seconds. Then, remove the tomatoes from the water and place directly into an ice bath. The skins should slip right off.
- Make the salsa. Place all of the ingredients in a large pot and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until thickened and cooked.
- Prepare cans to be sealed. Transfer the cooked salsa into clean, sterile jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Use a funnel for this. Wipe rims of jars and, then place lids on top.
- Process with a water bath. Bring a large saucepan filled with water to a boil. Your saucepan needs to be tall enough to have the water cover the jars by 2 inches.