How to grow radishes outdoors

Features of growing radishes

Radish is considered an unpretentious and cold-resistant crop, however, for its cultivation in the garden to be successful, it is necessary to take into account some features of the culture. There are two main factors affecting the yield of radish - good humidity and correct temperature conditions. If these conditions are provided to the plants, then vitamin roots can be grown throughout the season, while receiving a bountiful harvest.

The moisture content of the soil in which the radish is grown should always be kept at the same level. Drying out of the soil, exactly like stagnant moisture, negatively affects the quality of root crops, therefore, the garden should be watered regularly, at regular intervals, and make sure that the ground is always moist. Uneven watering can also harm plants: from a lack of moisture, the growth of root crops slows down, they become rough and not juicy, and if the garden is watered abundantly after a drought, the fruits can crack.

As for the temperature, radish seeds can germinate at a soil temperature of +2 ° C, so the early variety can be sown in late March - early April, but for further development the plants need a temperature of + 15-18 ° C. This is the optimum degree at which the roots grow to a normal size and taste good. A higher soil temperature leads to a rapid build-up of tops to the detriment of the growth of root crops - the radish becomes coarse, loose and bitter. For this reason, it is not recommended to grow the crop in the middle of summer (in July), when the air temperature reaches + 25 ° C and above.

Radish is photophilous, however, to grow it, you do not need a long daylight hours. If the daylight is more than 12 hours, the plants begin to produce flower stalks. Therefore, it is recommended to grow radishes outdoors in spring or autumn, when the daylight hours are not too long and the soil temperature is not very high.

To obtain high-quality and tasty root crops, it is better to sow an early variety of radish with a ripening period of 20-30 days, and late varieties, which ripen after 45-60 days, are generally pointless to plant in the spring, since the root will not have time to form until summer.

To a certain extent, the yield depends on the composition of the soil. Radish loves fertile, well-draining soil that is neutral or slightly acidic. In heavy soil, with high acidity, root crops get sick, rot, acquire an irregular shape and lose their density and taste. Many vegetable growers are convinced that high beds should be erected for the cultivation of radishes - this will allow you to fill up good loose soil, and also make it easier to care for the plants.

When sowing radishes, you should pay attention to the predecessors of the culture.It will not be possible to grow good root crops if in the previous year there were: cabbage (any variety), watercress, turnip, radish or horseradish on the garden bed. Conversely, it is recommended to grow radishes after legumes, nightshade crops (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant), cucumbers.

It is good to sow radishes in a garden bed intended for tomatoes - while the seedlings are growing, several radish crops can be obtained from the site.

Soil preparation

The area where the radish will be grown must be prepared in advance. For spring sowing, the garden bed is prepared in the fall; for sowing before winter, soil preparation should be started at the end of summer.

The place for the garden should be chosen moderately open to the sun and protected from the wind. As mentioned above, a tall garden bed is best suited for radishes.

The allocated area is fertilized with humus (2–3 kg / 1 m²), compost, potassium-phosphorus mixtures can also be added, and dug up to a depth of 20–25 cm. If the soil is acidic, it must be limed. A little river sand, peat should be added to heavy soil - these materials will increase its drainage properties. The dug up bed is covered with a film, the shelter is fixed at the edges with stones so that it is not blown away by the wind, and in this state it is left until spring. In the same way, prepare a bed intended for winter sowing.

Landing

If radish is grown in spring, then, as soon as the snow melts, the film is removed, and the soil surface is slightly loosened. Further along the length of the bed, several long, shallow (up to 5 cm) furrows are made so that the distance between them is 10–15 cm. The bottom of each furrow is well watered, and when the water is slightly absorbed, seeds are sown. Ideally they should be planted 4–5 cm apart, but most growers prefer to sow thicker and then thin out the rows. After sowing, each hole is covered with earth, the surface of the beds is leveled and covered with foil again.

Further care will consist in removing the shelter during the day and returning it to the garden at night until the threat of night frosts has passed and the soil warms up to a temperature of + 12-15 ° C.

Planting radishes for the winter is carried out using the same technology, with the only difference that the seeds are planted in dry soil, because in moist soil they can germinate before winter. In the spring, it will only be necessary to free the bed from the film, and provide the necessary care. Sowing under winter has one significant advantage over spring sowing - it allows you to grow and harvest the first crop 2 weeks earlier.

Video "We plant radishes in the ground"

This video demonstrates the process of sowing radish seeds outdoors in spring.

Care

As you know, only proper care of the garden beds helps to grow a good harvest of radishes. Proper care in this case consists in the simplest measures: watering, loosening row spacings and removing weeds. If the seeds were sown densely, then, as soon as the plants have a pair of true leaves, they should be thinned out, removing the weakest ones, and leaving the strongest shoots at a distance of 4–5 cm.

Watering should be given special attention, since the growth and yield of the crop depends on the moisture content of the soil. If there is no rain, watering should be done 2-3 times a week at regular intervals. In hot weather, it is recommended to sprinkle the beds. It is necessary to ensure that the soil is always moistened by 75–80%. Only at this level of humidity can you grow juicy, crunchy and moderately bitter roots.

Further care consists in maintaining cleanliness in the garden. Weed it every 8-10 days. It is not necessary to loosen it very deeply after each watering, since the roots are close to the surface and can be easily damaged. A garden bed with radishes can be mulched with any organic material - this measure will protect the soil from drying out, weed germination and simplify planting maintenance.

You need to feed the radish only if it is planted before winter, or the varieties have a late ripening period. Humus or compost can be added as fertilizer, but only in small quantities. Some vegetable growers use saltpeter, superphosphate, but since they contain nitrogen, the use of such fertilizers is not always justified, since nitrogen contributes to the accumulation of nitrates. Early varieties of radish, planted in spring, can be grown without additional fertilizing - as a rule, fertilizers applied during soil preparation are sufficient for their growth.

Disease and pest control

Caring for radishes also involves pest control. Since the growing season of radish is short, and falls mainly in the cool season, it does not have many pests. The main enemies of plants are the cruciferous flea, the danger of which is that it eats the very first and young leaves of radish, and aphids - these insects appear in late spring and suck juices from young leaves.

You can get rid of pests with a solution of ash and laundry soap (2 glasses of ash and 50 g of soap / 10 l of water). The solution is sprayed on the garden bed about 1 time per week until the tops grow. Alternatively, the ash can be simply scattered between the plants - it's okay if a little fertilizer gets on the leaves.

Pests such as slugs and bears can feast on root crops. But since it is not recommended to introduce insecticides into the soil, since radish quickly accumulates harmful substances and, due to the short growing season, does not have time to get rid of them, it is possible to fight enemies only using folk methods. It was noticed that these pests do not like lettuce, so vegetable growers came up with the idea of ​​sowing it in one row along with radishes. Since the root of the lettuce is very small, the plants do not interfere with each other, and you can grow both crops at the same time.

Radish is very rarely exposed to diseases. Here, special care is practically not required, since it can only get sick if it is grown in late spring or early summer. Problems such as yellowing of leaves and decay of root crops most often relate to mid-season varieties, and there is only one reason - improper watering.

Leaves can turn yellow from lack of moisture, while putrefactive processes occur from excess moisture. Adjusting the watering regime can solve this problem, and allow you to continue to grow quality and tasty radishes.

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This video is about how you can deal with a mole that spoils your radish planting.