Growing Red Radish

Growing Red Radish

Seeds - One may buy from the gardening shop/ online order.

Setting up pots - Keep the garden soil in sun for a day or two as it re-energise the soil. Mix soil with fine organic compost in the ratio of 2:1/ 3:2. I have used pots of size 18’’ Inches * 9’’ Inches to grow Red Radish as this variety doesn’t need much depth compared to the white longer one. If you have dried cow manure use that too that takes care of some pests naturally. I am using ILFS compost for last few years.

Sowing - Sow the seeds just below the soil. It’s better to put more seeds to have good probability. Water it well and cover the top for a day or two / provide some shade. Transplanting doesn’t work for Radish.

Watering & Placement - Radish likes moist and well drainage soil and good sun exposure. So if soil gets dried up quickly, water it more, may be two times a day - morning and evening.

Season - It’s a root vegetable , leaves grow over soil and roots below. In Gurgaon, I grew in the month of Sep post rains, and harvested 40-50 days later.

Fertiliser - Fertiliser is not bad if used moderately (see it as the chocolate powder you mix with milk 😊). Plants require sufficient nutrients, if you give less they may not grow properly, you give it more and they may taste worse and attract insects. I sometime use NPK 18-18-18 over and above organic compost (Nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium) but in very low quantity, 2/4 small size particles sometimes in 15 days, and if I see growth is generally fine then I do not use these. Fertilise only mature plants not the saplings.

Insects care - I couldn’t see insects probably they are tiny ones as I saw eaten leaves and that spread quite quickly. I could limit their growth by spraying water during evenings, or neem oil - 3000 ppm , 5-10 ml in a litre of water (gentle spray over leaves) during evenings post that watering the roots.