White radish: variety description

Description of the variety

White radish is an annual or biennial vegetable crop of the Cabbage (cruciferous) family. The annual development cycle is typical for summer and early varieties. In winter varieties, the full growing season takes two years - in the first year the plant forms a root crop, and in the second it blooms and gives seeds. A white root vegetable can have a wide variety of shapes: round (May, Winter White, Odessa), elongated or conical (Elephant's Fang, Grayvoronskaya, Loba).

The pulp of the white radish is juicy and crispy, slightly spicy on the palate. Unlike black, it has a softer and more delicate taste. Recently, the Japanese radish, whose name is daikon, has been very popular. Its root vegetable is long and very juicy, with a sweetish-spicy taste, since, unlike our traditional varieties, it does not contain mustard oils. Daikon or the so-called "Japanese radish" (in the Russian version it can be called "sweet radish") also has many varieties and varieties that differ in shape, size, and even color of the pulp. For example, the Flamingo hybrid has bright pink flesh, while its surface is snow-white.

White radish is completely unpretentious. It easily tolerates night frosts and even short frosts, which makes it possible to grow crops not only in temperate climates, but also in northern regions. According to the ripening period, it is divided into summer varieties (ripen in 50–70 days), which in turn are subdivided into early, mid-season and late ones, as well as winter ones - ripening in late autumn, and intended for winter use.

Summer varieties are in great demand, since the pulp of these root crops is juicier and more tender. Root crops of winter varieties are distinguished by a denser and sharper pulp, but they also last longer. Almost all types of white radish, with the exception of a few winter varieties, are annual plants - they form roots and seeds in one year, so you should not hesitate with harvesting, since when vegetables are overripe, they can release an arrow.

Choosing a place and soil

Despite the fact that the culture is unpretentious, it is necessary to create elementary conditions for its cultivation. When choosing a place for planting, it should be borne in mind that the radish is a plant of short daylight hours. For root crops to thrive, they need a cool temperature and 10-12 hours of daylight. And if it is not difficult to create these conditions when planting summer varieties, then problems can arise with the cultivation of winter varieties, which are usually planted in the middle of summer.

For winter culture, it is better to choose areas that are illuminated by the sun in the first half of the day, and in the afternoon they are in the shade - otherwise the root crops will grow small, and will release an arrow even before the onset of autumn. The planting bed should be flat, without depressions and lowlands, since the culture does not tolerate stagnant water well. At the same time, for the successful growth of root crops, it is necessary to maintain constant but moderate humidity, this is especially important at the beginning of the growing season.

As for the composition of the soil, the white radish prefers loose and fertile loamy, as well as sandy loam soil with neutral or slightly alkaline acidity. The main thing is that the soil is not acidic, otherwise the roots will develop poorly and rot. Before planting the seeds, the soil is dug to a depth of 20–25 cm, humus or compost (0.5 buckets / 1 m²) and ash are added for digging. Slaked lime must be added to acidic soil.

For planting summer varieties, the garden bed is prepared in autumn, for winter varieties - in spring.

For white radish, it is important who was its predecessor, as well as who is its neighbor. The culture grows well after corn, legumes, any pumpkin crops (squash, squash). The culture feels great in the neighborhood with cucumbers, tomatoes, peas. Some gardeners, to save space, plant radish between cucumbers or squash, and it grows quite successfully there. Undesirable predecessors for the culture are: horseradish, carrots, beets, any kind of radish and cabbage.

Landing time and scheme

The timing of planting radish depends on the variety and type. Summer plants are planted in open ground quite early, as soon as the soil warms up to + 3-5 ° C. Early varieties are more cold-resistant, so they can be planted in the second half of April, mid-season and late ones - in early May. It is important to sow the seeds as early as possible so that the roots have time to ripen before the onset of the summer heat, and do not throw out the arrows ahead of time.

For planting winter varieties, a time period is recommended from the last decade of June to mid-July. For the southern regions, the deadline is the beginning of August, but you should not delay planting seeds longer, since the roots will not have time to ripen, and you can not wait for the harvest.

The radish is planted as seeds directly into the ground. It is important to know that good quality, healthy seeds are brown, not gray, black, or whatever. A change in the color of the seed indicates that it has deteriorated and is unsuitable for sowing. Seeds are planted in pre-prepared furrows, 3-4 pieces at a distance of about 15 cm. The distance between the nests depends on the variety. Round radish (Maiskaya, Odessa), as well as winter varieties, are recommended to be planted at a distance of 20 cm. Long root crops (Dragon, Sultan, Munich) can be planted more compactly - at a distance of 10-15 cm.

Advantages and disadvantages

The main advantage of white radish is, of course, its unusually useful composition and medicinal properties. Root vegetables are widely used in traditional medicine to treat coughs, increase appetite, strengthen immunity and solve a number of health problems. Refreshing, slightly pungent taste makes the vegetable indispensable in the diet and composition of many dishes. Radish is a versatile root vegetable, it can be eaten fresh, in the form of salads, a variety of side dishes and even hot dishes can be prepared.

The radish itself almost never gets sick, which is also its positive quality. Perhaps this is due to the high content of esters and biologically active substances in the composition, which not only endow root crops with healing properties, but also protect them from damage by fungal spores and other bacteria. The advantages also include the unpretentiousness of the culture and high productivity - the productivity of winter varieties of white radish is 4-6 kg per one meter of area.

Of the shortcomings, it can be noted, except that the susceptibility of summer varieties to the attack of harmful insects. If root crops are of little interest to parasites, then young greens are a real delicacy for cruciferous fleas, larvae and caterpillars. Therefore, it is more profitable to grow winter radish varieties, since at the end of summer, harmful insects are no longer so active.

Video "Agrotechnics of growing Daikon"

From this video you will learn about the properties of Daikon and the technology of its cultivation.