Why does radish go into the tops and what to do with it

Features of growing radish

Radishes are grown on nutritious light soils, neutral, very weak acidification can be tolerated. He loves moisture and sun, so they sow him in open sunny areas, it is better if the radishes are protected from strong winds. Radish grows at an air temperature of +10 degrees, but can easily survive frosts up to -2 degrees. Radish is called a plant of short daylight hours, because it suits the length of the day 10-11 hours, if the daylight hours last longer, then radish leaves grow better than root crops.

This vegetable, a month after sowing, gives an excellent harvest, does not require much care, which is why gardeners love it. They take care of him traditionally - they feed, water, loosen the earth. Moreover, the first point is often dispensed with if there is good fertile land on the site. It often happens that summer residents harvest at the beginning of summer, and then in the fall again feast on the crispy, sharp pulp of the root vegetables of this rapidly growing vegetable.

It seems that everything is so simple, but why does it sometimes happen that all the power of a radish is spent on growing tops, shooting, and not on the formation of root crops?

Causes

If the radish goes into the arrow, its taste will noticeably decrease, which is why this should not be allowed. And it so happens that beautiful lush greenery grows, but the root crop does not grow.

By the way, do not rush to throw such useless, but lush bushes into the compost pit. They contain many useful substances, in particular, a high content of vitamins. Usually they are used for livestock feed, and the first tender greens can be included in salads.

Some summer residents make very healthy salads at the beginning of summer from leaves of radishes, gooseberries, mulberries, while they have a lot of vitamin C.

But we do not grow radishes in order to eat its leaves, why do not root crops grow? There may be several reasons for this.

Violation of sowing dates

If a radish was sown in the fall (and many do so - they sow it before winter), then the April sun will force it to germinate, and the soil moist after the snow melts will be the best growth condition. The result will be a wonderful harvest as early as May.

And in spring, radishes need to be sown when the ground thaws and the air temperature rises to +10 degrees. In most of the country, this happens in late March or early April. It will grow beautifully until daylight hours increase to 12-13 hours and the summer heat begins. After this, the root crop is no longer worth waiting, the plant goes into the arrow under such conditions. That is why one should not be late with sowing - it is worth being late and sowing in May, the radish will rush to shoot. Sowing dates are very important for the radish harvest.

Unsuitable soil and fertilizers

Radish loves loose sandy loam soils, if the earth is too dense, the roots will not be able to fully develop, they will not have enough air and nutrition.If the soil is too heavy in the garden, it is worth adding sand and wood ash, then digging it up well. Usually, the beds are fertilized before sowing with compost, humus, mineral fertilizers. It is better to do this in the fall, but you can apply fertilizers in the spring, just before sowing, dig up the area again, level, water, and then sow.

But here it is important not to overdo it, too much nitrogen can provoke lush growth of greenery and early shooting. Better to add compost and superphosphate. Manure contains a lot of nitrogen, fresh manure cannot be fertilized at all, only humus should be applied before sowing, but then there should be little nitrogen among mineral fertilizers, and more potassium and phosphorus.

Many summer residents in the spring (or from autumn) apply mineral fertilizers to the soil, and then, after the emergence of seedlings, they are still watered with diluted (very strongly) slurry. This is only permissible in impoverished, barren lands.

The soil should be fertilized, but without an excess of nitrogen.

Wrong site selection

Radishes need to be grown in open sunny beds, it is desirable to protect them from the wind, which dries out (as they say, "weathered") the earth. Experienced gardeners change the place for it every year and do not sow it where related crops grew in the previous year - radish, cabbage or turnip. It is best to grow radishes after potatoes, onions, or tomatoes. Some owners plant it among the tomatoes, which is good as long as the tomatoes do not form a large shade. When determining a place for radishes, you need to remember the rules of crop rotation.

Improper watering

A moisture-loving culture is sown into moist soil, and then it is tamped down a little more so that each seed is surrounded by moist soil, and not air. The crops, and then the seedlings, are watered from dishes with a divider, it is good if it is a fine sieve. The growing radishes are watered frequently, every 2 or 3 days, and daily in hot dry weather. Better to do it in the evening.

The roots grow up to 30 cm deep, so you need to water not only often, but also abundantly, so that the ground gets wet to the desired depth. If you moisten only the upper few centimeters of the earth, then the plant will not fully feed, which means that it will not “waste time” on building up the root crop, but will immediately rush to release the arrow. Watering must be correct, that is, sufficient for growth.

Other reasons

It so happens that a summer resident burdened with troubles forgets to loosen the ground around the plant. This can be detrimental to radishes. Frequent watering will compress the earth, very soon the roots will receive neither moisture nor air. To prevent this from happening, you need to fluff the soil more often.

First, the earth is loosened to a depth of 3 centimeters, then as the plant grows, the depth is increased to 6 centimeters. Loosening the soil is of great importance for the normal formation of the root crop.

Another important condition that an inexperienced summer resident can forget about is the optimal area for each plant. In order for the radish to grow a large succulent root crop, there must be free space between it and neighboring plants. That is why immediately after the emergence of shoots (on the 5th or 6th day), the shoots break through, leaving the strongest at a distance of 4 cm from each other. The thinning procedure can then be repeated if, according to the description of the variety, large roots are assumed.

Video "Secrets of growing radishes"

This short but informative video will tell you about the timing of planting radishes and demonstrate the planting process.