How to grow & care for Radishes
Radishes are one of the easiest and speediest vegetable crops to grow! Perfect for the time poor or beginner gardener. Grow radishes year round in all climates, but avoid winter if you have heavy frosts.
Ready to harvest just 4-6 weeks after sowing - depending on the variety - radishes add delicious peppery crunch when used raw in salads.
Radishes are at their sweetest when they are only a few centimetres across - so pick them young before their roots start to split and become tough. Young radish leaves can also be used in salads for an extra flavour hit.
Top 4 Steps to growing Radishes
- Choose a full sun position in your garden or grow in pots Improve the soil before planting by adding compost or Scotts Performance Naturals™ Organic Based Soil Improver
- Direct sow radish seeds, they’ll be ready to harvest 4-6 weeks from planting!
- Seeds are more readily available than seedlings.
- Space-saving idea - inter-plant radishes with bigger, longer growing crops, they’ll be harvested before the larger crops reach maturity.
Shopping List
- Radish seeds or seedlings
- Scotts Osmocote® Compost Premium Soil Improver
- Scotts Organic Liquid Fertiliser
- If growing in pots, Scotts Organic Potting Mix For All Plants
- Garden trowel
- Snail & Slug Pellets
Prepare
Radish can be grown from seeds or seedlings, in a full sun spot (they will appreciate some protection from the hot afternoon sun in the summer months). However, just like other root crops, radish prefers to be directly sown as seeds because this avoids the root disturbance of transplanting seedlings.
Radish is best grown in soil enriched with Scotts Osmocote® Compost Premium Soil Improver and a small amount of Scotts Organic Liquid Fertiliser - dig these through the top 5-10cm of soil before planting.
Planting in the garden
Sow radish seeds thinly about 5mm deep in rows 15-25cm apart. Keep moist, but not soggy while the seeds germinate - which will take only 5-8 days. Seedlings can be thinned to 2-5cm apart as they grow. Re-sow radish seeds every 2-4 weeks for a continuous supply.
Because radish grows so quickly they are a great crop to inter-plant between longer-growing crops like tomatoes, carrots, beans, sweetcorn and cucumber.
Planting in pots
Radish can be grown in small to medium pots that are 20-30cm deep. Fill the pot with Scotts Organic Potting Mix For All Plants and thinly sprinkle seeds on the surface. Cover lightly with more potting mix and keep them moist while they germinate.
Seedlings can be thinned to 2-5cm apart as they grow. Re-sow radish seeds every 2-4 weeks for a continuous supply.
Harvest
Radishes are sweetest and most tender when harvested at a small size - around 4-8 weeks after sowing depending on the variety. If left in the ground too long the roots will begin to split and become tough. Harvest each radish as it’s needed by pulling it from the ground and rinsing it with water before eating or cooking with it.
Radish leaves are also edible, you can use leaves from your harvested radishes or carefully snip off 1-2 leaves from each plant still in the ground.
Pests & Diseases
Slugs and Snails will cause significant damage to radish leaves and the top of the root that is exposed. Protect your radish crop by setting beer traps (saucers filled with beer) or use Snail & Slug Pellets.
