French Breakfast Radish
Radishes are quick, easy and fun to grow from seed, ready to eat in as little as four weeks. These compact plants can be grown in even the smallest of gardens and are great gap-fillers on the veg plot. Sow small batches every few weeks for harvesting throughout summer, to add a crunchy tang to your salads. There are even varieties for winter cropping.
Grow your own
Difficulty – Easy
Sow - February-August
Harvest – May-February
Seed Packet - Aprox 500 Seeds
Sow
It’s best to sow radish seeds little and often, for small but continuous harvests. Aim to provide consistent conditions to ensure they grow well without any checks to their growth.
Sow outdoors, in the spot where they’re to grow. This can be in the ground, in containers or even in a growing bag. Sow seeds in short drills, 1cm (½in) deep and about 2.5cm (1in) apart.
For an early crop, sow in February into pre-warmed soil and protect with cloches.
Sow summer cultivars from March to mid-August.
Winter cultivars should be sown in July or August – space seeds 23cm (9in) apart to minimise the need for thinning later on. If sowing more than one row, keep them 15cm (6in) apart.
Grow
Thinning shouldn’t be necessary if you sow summer cultivars 2.5cm (1in) apart and winter cultivars 15cm (5in) apart. If thinning is required, do it as soon as possible.
Keep the soil moist to ensure rapid growth, for fleshy, tasty roots that don’t split. This can be tricky in hot dry summer weather, so take care to water regularly.
Because radishes are quick to mature, they can be sown as a ‘catch crop’ between rows of slower-growing vegetables such as peas and potatoes.
They can even be used as row markers for slow-germinating crops, such as parsnip and onions – the radishes germinate quickly, marking out the row where the other crops have been sown, and are harvested before they can hinder the main crop.