I had forgotten all about them , as most have bolted and gone to seed - which I plan to save , as these are heirlooms - until I was out on my daily inspection tour . They were probably left too long , as thyey were kinda tough and woody ... but they sure tasted good in our salad fordinner . So did that home-grown 'mater !
If my experience is anything to go by, they were probably woody before they bolted.
I don't think anyone knows what is necessary to be able to grow unwoody radishes that don't bolt. It seems you either have suitable ground for growing radishes or you don't. And in my case a large amount of compost added over the years to turn the ground into humus rich ground doesn't see to be sufficient of change to get over this. Nor does the ideal growing conditions of this year's wet spring.
Radishes are fairly promiscuous and will cross with other radishes, and maybe with some other brassicas if they are closely enough related. So if you want the seed you need to apply the appropriate pollination hygiene arrangements to prevent cross-pollination. In my opinion, that's what I pay seed companies to do. I'm told you can eat radish seed pods, maybe that's the best thing to do. I just pulled mine all out and chucked themon the compost heap.
echinosum wrote: ...
how much clay does your soil contain?
even moisture may not be possible enough for them in sandy loam, you may need to up the clay percentage...
as for bolting, that's just what plants do when they've got enough energy and the day length is right for them.
pick them as early as they reach the size you want to eat (3-5 cm across is about the size for the common radishes i've seen).
all brassicas are promiscuous.
songbird
songbird wrote: ...
whups! correction. some are, some are not.
confused by recent brocolli reading...
songbird
OK thanks. My topsoil is sandy loam. I'll stop wasting my time.
I will of course quickly pull one out if there is any sign of it being big enough to eat, but it's already woody at 1cm across. 3cm would be a very rare monster in my garden.
There goes my prurient interest, dang.
considering how little area it takes to grow these, adding 1-2 lbs of clay to 5 sq ft would be an easy trial. often sold as kitty litter (check the label).
as radishes are one of the easiest plants to grow i'm very surprised by this.
you mentioned before adding a lot of organic materials to the soil, you may be adding a lot of carbon, but not enough nitrogen...
if you irrigate a lot the soil could be too salty or it could be depleted of certain trace minerals, phosphates or potassium.
i think you may be well served by a soil test.
songbird
I've heard several leading gardeners say that radishes just won't grow for them, so I think they are easy if they like your soil and hard otherwise.
I hardly irrigated until the recent hot spell, as there was plenty of rain earlier in the spring; early irrigation was with stored rain water. I have chucked wood ash on (well before sowing) for the Ps. My compost heap gets plenty of grass clippings so should be reasonably nitrogenous. All my other vegetables are growing fast and lush, including my other brassiacs, and the peas are especially impressive this year. The garlics growing right next to the radishes have done very well.
yes, this is about how it has gone for me here this season. plenty of rain from June up until last week. some plants were not growing well because of that lack of sunshine.
i was reading one of my references this morning to see what it had to say about radishes because i was curious if it said anything about plants being small and woody.
these are other things from that reading:
- too much nitrogen (which would coincide with your comment about plenty of grass clippings, hmm...) try putting them in a spot where you've previously had a heavy feeder like corn
- not planting early enough (they don't do as well in hot weather) or perhaps not late enough (for a fall crop)
- not thinning enough
- try different varieties (icicle was mentioned as a little more heat tolerant)
songbird
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