I’ve been growing great radish for years now, all year round, so I wanted to share it with you AND in a very space-efficient manner on my organic kitchen garden wall.
- Good location: Make sure the containers, whether on the ground or on the wall, have at least eight hour of full sunlight a day. This is essential, especially in the cooler months. In a very hot summer broken shade or shade cloth can be beneficial for best growth.
- Good depth of container: Use a container that is at least 6"/15cm deep, with good drainage holes.
- Good quality mixture: Use a good quality potting herb/vegetable mixture. Don’t scrimp on quality. It will be worth it. I use the mixture for 3-4 consecutive crops of radish. The more often you use the mixture the more you need to apply liquid fertilizer, at least once per week. Do NOT use the mixture again in the second season.
- Select the right variety: Personally I like the small, quick-maturing round/globe or cherry types like Scarlet Globe or Cherry Belle. The wrong variety can cause problems, especially in summer, as radish is traditionally a cool weather (frost tolerant) crop.
- Use seed tapes if available: (rather than straight seed). This makes life so easy and the spacing is just right (about 1- 1¼"/3cm. If you can’t get the seed tapes in the variety you want, then direct seed and thin out to at least 1"/ 2.5 cm apart for best root development. For more than one row do not plant the rows any closer than 10"/25cm, dependent on variety. Use what the seed packet recommends.
- Mulch: If possible using a light covering of straw mulch to prevent the mixture drying out and to keep the soil cooler in summer.
- Regularly water: Also liquid fertilize if needed. The best tasting and best quality radish are those grown quickly, which means good watering, and good fertilizing (when needed).
- Successive Planting: Plant enough each time to last you about 2+ weeks (with successive harvesting during that period), then plant every two to three weeks successive plantings.
- Harvest when young and tender and eat ASAP: They can be stored in the refrigerator in the crisper for up to two weeks. I recommend topping and tailing before storage.
Having small veggie gardens can be had in any back yard no matter the size. If you are limited on yard space and you want to grow veggies in your garden, read the following small garden material written by a Master Gardener, John Bee.
