Radish Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pests | Companions | Flavor | Preservation | Recipes | Michigan Tips | Fun Facts

🌱 How & Where to Grow Radishes:

• Direct sow seeds ½-1 inch deep when soil reaches 40°F.
• Space seeds 1 inch apart in rows 6-12 inches apart.
• Succession plant every 10 days for continuous harvest – they’re the ultimate fast crop!
• Sunlight: Full sun (6-8 hours) preferred, tolerates partial shade.
• Soil Type: Radishes prefer loose, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0.
• Soil Amendment: Work in compost for nutrients, but avoid fresh manure which causes forked roots

Radishes are perfect for impatient gardeners – some varieties are ready in just 20 days!

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Spring: 40°F soil minimum. Fall: Plant August-September. Avoid summer heat.

• Optimal growing: 55-65°F for best quality and mild flavor.
• Germination: Seeds sprout in 3-10 days depending on temperature.
• Radishes bolt quickly in temperatures above 85°F, becoming pithy and overly pungent.
• They can tolerate light frosts, making them perfect for early spring and late fall.

Michigan’s cool springs and falls are ideal – skip summer planting unless you have consistent shade!

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Keep soil evenly moist but not waterlogged.
• Watering: Provide 1 inch of water weekly – inconsistent watering causes cracking.
• Mulch: Light mulch helps retain moisture and keep roots cool.
• Fertilizer: Usually unnecessary in amended soil – too much nitrogen produces leaves over roots.
• Thinning: Thin to 2-inch spacing when seedlings are 1 inch tall for proper root development.

📏 Harvest Signs:

3-5 weeks from planting. Size varies by variety. Harvest promptly.

• Check maturity by gently brushing soil away from the shoulder.
• Spring radishes are typically ready at 1 inch diameter.
• Winter radishes (like daikon) can grow much larger and take 60+ days.
• Shoulders will push slightly above soil when ready.

Don’t delay harvest – radishes quickly become woody and hollow if left too long!

🧺 Harvesting:

Pull when soil moist. Remove greens immediately.

• Always harvest in the morning for crispest texture.
• Test one first – pull a sample to check size and quality.
• Gently pull straight up – radishes usually come out easily.
• Cut greens immediately to prevent moisture loss from roots.
• Don’t discard greens – they’re edible and nutritious!

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Flea beetles (major pest – use row covers), cabbage maggots, wireworms.

• Flea beetles create tiny holes in leaves – floating row covers are essential protection.
• Cabbage maggots tunnel into roots – rotate crops and avoid planting after brassicas.
• Wireworms bore holes through radishes – till soil in fall to expose them to predators.
• Quick growth helps radishes outpace many pest problems.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Excellent with lettuce, carrots, beets. Natural row markers for slow crops.

• Radishes mark rows of slow-germinating carrots and parsnips.
• Interplant with lettuce – radishes will be harvested before lettuce needs the space.
• Great pest deterrent for cucumber beetles when planted near cucumbers.
• Avoid planting near hyssop or other brassicas.
• Use as trap crop for flea beetles to protect other plants.

🍴 Flavor:

Crisp, peppery. Cool weather = milder flavor.

• Spring radishes grown in cool weather are mild and sweet.
• Heat-stressed radishes become extremely hot and pungent.
• Different varieties range from mild ‘Cherry Belle’ to spicy ‘Black Spanish’.
• French breakfast radishes have mild tips and spicier shoulders.
• Asian varieties like daikon are generally milder with sweet undertones.

🫙 Preservation:

Fresh (1-2 weeks), pickled, fermented, dehydrated chips.

• Store fresh radishes in perforated plastic bags in the crisper drawer.
• Remove greens before storage but save for cooking.
• Quick-pickle sliced radishes with rice vinegar for pink pickles.
• Ferment whole small radishes like traditional Korean kkakdugi.
• Dehydrate thin slices for crunchy radish chips.
• Freeze only if you plan to cook them – texture changes significantly.

🧑🏽‍🍳 Recipes:

Fresh salads, roasted radishes, radish green pesto, kimchi.

• Try radishes with butter and sea salt – a classic French appetizer!
• Roast whole radishes with olive oil at 425°F until golden and sweet.
• Make radish green pesto with garlic, nuts, and parmesan.
• Quick-pickle with ginger and chilies for banh mi sandwiches.
• Shave paper-thin for elegant salads and garnishes.

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Perfect for early spring.
• Fall radishes sweeter.
• Great for kids’ gardens.
• Start planting as soon as soil can be worked in March/April.
• Use row covers for earliest plantings to protect from flea beetles.
• Plant fall crop in shady areas to extend the season.
• Mix varieties for different colors, shapes, and harvest times.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• 5-year seed shelf life.
• Leaves have more vitamin C than roots!
• Ancient Egyptians ate radishes before building the pyramids for stamina.
• The world’s heaviest radish weighed 68 pounds 9 ounces, grown in Japan.
• Radishes were one of the first European crops grown in the Americas.
• They’re actually related to cabbage and turnips, not carrots.
• Greeks made gold radish replicas as offerings to Apollo.
• Michigan’s quick spring and fall seasons are perfect for growing dozens of radish varieties!