If you want to grow radishes not only in traditional shades, but also yellow, white with raspberry pulp, black, then check out the varieties presented. Radish is an early ripening culture. Having planted certain varieties, you will be able to feast on juicy roots within 18 days after the emergence of shoots. Which is very valuable in early spring, when there are not enough vitamin vegetables. Another advantage of radishes is that you can get several harvests per season. But so that the plant does not go into the arrow, you need to know some techniques and subtleties of growing this culture.
Radish varieties
Currently, breeders have bred varieties of various colors, not only red, with a white tip, but also bright purple, golden, white and even black.
To breed such a beautiful culture on your site, plant the following varieties:
- "Watermelon radish". Its head is white on top, and crimson inside, resembling a small radish in shape. The root vegetable reaches a diameter of 7–8 cm. "Watermelon radish" differs from the usual in color and taste, its root vegetable is harder, but the core is sweeter than the peel. Watermelon radish is eaten not only raw, but also fried with fish, meat or other vegetables.
- Lightning F1. The variety is early ripening, the first roots ripen in 23 days after germination. The heads are red, round, and taste great. The variety is not only early maturing, but also resistant to flowering.
- "Champion" is suitable for both protected and open ground. The heads are smooth, rounded, bright red. The variety is resistant to flabbiness and hollowness, has good taste.
- "18 days". Very early maturing. From the emergence of seedlings to the ripening of the first root crops, it really takes so much time. The heads are red with a white tip, they have an elongated shape, which saves space on the bed. Seeds of this variety need to be buried 3, 5–4 cm into the ground, then they will not bend in light soil.
- "Glory". Has the same color as "18 days", but the fruits are mid-season and round in shape.
- "Gold" is distinguished by a beautiful yellow-golden hue, the head is round, the pulp is juicy, dense, tender. The variety is mid-season, the technical ripeness of the fruit occurs a month after the emergence of shoots.
- "Viola" forms bright purple round root vegetables, they are juicy and tasty. Medium early variety.
Black radish is another representative of the exotic species of this plant. Root crops are rich in calcium, carbohydrates, magnesium. There are several varieties of black radish, these are Panthers, Duenya, Kulata.
White radish also looks original, its pulp will also not disappoint, it is tender and juicy. There are several varieties of this color, for example, "Firefly".
Sowing dates for radish
If you have a greenhouse, then the plant can be grown there from March to the end of April and from September to November, thus prolonging the production of vitamin vegetables. But during frosts, you need to put arcs inside the greenhouse and cover the plants with film or non-woven material.
Radish is a cold-resistant crop, so it can be planted in open ground under a film or lutrasil already in mid-April. The second time radish seeds are sown in mid-May, the third - in early June. Further, the summer equinox sets in, the day lengthens, so the next time for planting radishes is the end of July. The last time it is sown in open ground is at the end of August.
To prevent radishes from going into the arrow, May, June and July plantings need to be covered with black film from 6 pm. Short daylight hours will help plants to form a good large root crop.
Preparing the garden for sowing radishes
Radish loves sandy slightly acidic soils, they must be light, otherwise the roots will crack. The bed should be well lit by the sun in the morning and in the evening, at noon it is better if there is a shade there. But radishes cannot be planted in full shade, since then the greens will grow, and the root crop will not be formed.
The soil for spring planting must be prepared in the fall. They dig it up, choose the roots of the weeds, add potassium salt at the rate of 2 tbsp. l. per square meter, superphosphate - for the same area 3 tbsp. l. Fertilizers are embedded in the soil, and planting is done in early spring. In order for the earth to thaw faster after winter, you need to cover it with tar paper, roofing felt or a dense dark film. Then this shelter is removed, the bed is loosened and half a bucket is poured per 1 square meter. m. of compost or humus, embedded in the ground with a pitchfork or rake. After that, you can start sowing. If you don't have enough space in your garden or don't want to dig an extra bed, then you can sow radishes, for example, in front of cucumbers. By the time you plant your cucumber seedlings, you have already harvested the radish. The second sowing period can be carried out on the garden bed, where the lettuce grew before.
Sowing radish
In order for the seeds to germinate well, they are soaked before sowing for 12 hours in water. Make grooves every 10-15 cm with a hoe or peg, spill them well with water. Sow seeds sparsely, as the thickening of the crops is another reason that the radish goes to the arrow. Depending on the variety, place them at a distance of 2–3 cm, deepening by 1, 5–2 cm. If sowing is carried out in early spring, cover the bed with a transparent film to keep warm.
How to care for a radish?
Radishes are watered in hot weather, regularly loosened, weeded. If the plantings are thickened, they are thinned out when the first true leaf appears on the plant. If this is not done in time, the plantings will thicken, then the plant may throw out the flower arrow. It is necessary to thin out so that the distance between shoots is at least 4 cm.
You need to feed the radish if the plant is weak. In 10 liters of water, dilute 300 g of manure and 1 tsp. urea. For 1 sq. m. apply 5 liters of the prepared fertilizer.
You need to collect root crops on time, otherwise their pulp will coarsen and become unsuitable for food. Excavated plants must be carefully shaken off the ground, cut off the tops and put the fruits in plastic bags with holes. Root crops are stored in the refrigerator, and late varieties in a cold cellar.
Pests and diseases of radish
One of the main pests of this culture, the cruciferous flea, can annoy the plant at the very beginning of its growing season, when the first shoots appear. To prevent this, after sowing the radish, the soil is powdered with ash, tobacco or dry mustard. If you immediately cover the bed after sowing with non-woven fabric or film, then the pest will not annoy. It is very active on hot summer days, so radish planted in early spring is almost not attacked by a cruciferous flea.
If the pest has nevertheless settled on the planting, the following methods will help. Ash solution. To prepare it, a glass of ash, 25 g of laundry soap are added to 5 liters of water, then the liquid is filtered and the plantings are sprayed. You can just periodically sprinkle ash on the plants to fight the cruciferous flea. The second method is similar to the first, but only a glass of tobacco dust and 25 g of laundry soap are poured into 5 liters of water. Then the plants are sprayed in the same way.
If biological control methods do not help, then severely affected plants can be treated with an insecticide, for example, the drug "Inta Vir". But chemical agents must be used very carefully and only on mid-early varieties of radishes, when the seedlings are young.
Another pest of radish is a whitewater. It is damaged by the caterpillars of this butterfly. It is better to deal with them with folk remedies. To do this, take 5 liters of water: 1 tbsp. l. salt and mustard and 0.5 tbsp. l. black or red pepper.
Radish diseases are:
- blackleg;
- keel;
- bacteriosis.
Blackleg mainly affects young radish plants. Blackening appears at the base of the stem and it becomes thinner. In this case, the leaves curl, turn yellow. To destroy the disease, damaged plants are sprayed with a product made from five liters of water, 25 g of crushed laundry soap and 0.5 tbsp. l. copper sulfate. A folk remedy will also help, which is used 2-3 times with an interval of a week. To do this, you need to insist during the day 20 g of onion husks, placed in a liter of water. After straining, water the soil around the plants with infusion, and then let it dry.
Radish keels are growths and swellings that appear on the surface of root crops. This fungal disease will help defeat the milk of lime. To make it, 1 glass of fluffy lime is poured into 5 liters of water, stirred and a sufficient amount of solution is poured onto the plants.
If the roots became slimy, smelled of rot, and the leaves turned yellow, then this is bacteriosis. A solution of one percent Bordeaux liquid, which is sprayed on damaged seedlings, will help to defeat the disease.
Prevention of radish diseases will help the observance of crop rotation, non-thickening of plantings, the choice of varieties that are resistant to various diseases.
Learn more about how to grow radishes in this video:
