Growing Radish

Raphanus sativas : Brassicaceae / the mustard or cabbage family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
      P P P P          

(Best months for growing Radish in Australia - tropical regions)

  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 8°C and 30°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 3 - 5 cm apart
  • Harvest in 5-7 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Chervil, cress,lettuce, leeks, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes
  • Avoid growing close to: Hyssop, gherkins
  • Cherry radish
  • French Breakfast radishes

Small, spicy tasting root vegetable usually round but some longer varieties. Available in a range of colours between red and white.

Very easy to grow. Good for a child's first garden as seedlings appear in two or three days. Sow between other vegetables as they will mark the rows until the slower germinating plants appear.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Radish

Wash well and remove leaves and roots.
Use raw in salads or on their own with bread and butter.

Your comments and tips

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01 May 23, Alice (Australia - temperate climate)
My Grandfather always mixed radish seed with carrot seed in river sand and this help to thin out the carrots, not only because of the two types of seed, but because as you harvest the radishes - starting with the new shoots that are a great micro green, and this in turn thins carrots out :)
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08 May 23, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Or just put sand with radish or carrots in a salt or pepper shaker and plant rows only about 3-4 cm
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29 Sep 22, Chris (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hint: Radish leaves can be used as a stir fry green.
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19 Jan 22, Warren (Australia - temperate climate)
I always grow radish but often let them get too fibrey. I let some go to seed, amd found my sugarbag bees loved them. I then let them go to seed and found the young, tender seed pods are tastier than the radish itself, and you get far more output as they seed like crazy. Pickling the pods also works well, so now I grow them for the seed pods, and the bees. I recommend trying it
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20 Jan 22, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Pick your radish when they have grown to the right size and put them down in the veggie section of fridge - they will keep for weeks. They are more a late autumn winter early spring crop in sub tropics.
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20 Jan 22, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 7b Mild Temperate climate)
What kind of radishes are you growing?
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26 Jun 21, Jane (Australia - tropical climate)
I'm growing radishes for the first time.Tasty! What does 'they will mark the rows' mean? Thanx.
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29 Jun 21, Kasy in SE WI (USA - Zone 5a climate)
Radish will mark the row next door if planted next to some other seeds that come up in more days than radishes. For example if you plant __?__ veggie that comes up in 10 days, next to a row of radishes, the radishes will come up certainly by day 2 ( all things present as to sunlight and water). That mean the ?? veggie will be along side and in next row but not until day 10. That way you know not to plant something else in row space next to radishes. Neat trick I never thought of. Wish I had marked my lettuce groups with one radish seed in middle.
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29 Jun 21, Anon (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
They are talking about planting radish with other seeds to mark the row. Like a couple of radish between two lettuce seeds/plants. Radish will germinate in 2-5 days to show where the others are planted. I suggest you do a thin line of radish.by itself. Plant the other seeds in a different row. What I do now is have soil nice and fine and level, pat it down a bit., then plant seeds in a thin row - pinch a few seeds in your fingers and wriggle your fingers to release a seed or two at a time. Then cover the seeds with seed raising mix or fine potting mix. Try and keep the seeds shaded until they germinate. Keep the plant area moist all the time.
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02 Oct 21, Selina (Australia - temperate climate)
This is great advice for a beginner. Thanks.
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Showing 1 - 10 of 98 comments
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Interesting what Robert said. I even spoke to yates and they told me to go easy on the liquid fertiliser/Nitrogen and appy a sprinkle of Superphosphate between the rows but this has made no difference whatsoever. Are we justing getting crap seed growing stock these day?.............because I grew radish as a kid and never had these problems as I would just dig up the ground and stick seeds in and they would grow just fine. What about sunlight? Surely other people here with same problem can't have their garden in a spot that doesn't get enough sun!?

- Paul

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