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Vegetable Gardening

What's wrong with my radishes?

9 years ago

Hi all,

I'm a fairly experienced gardener (mostly tomatoes, peas, and beans) but this is the first year I've tried radishes. I planted a blend in my greenhouse on 2/20/15. They sprouted up just wonderfully and look like they're doing well. However, they're supposed to be mature in 30 days. The leaves are a good 4-5" tall. I was supposed to thin them to 1-2" and although I forgot to do that, they weren't very thickly planted anyway. But when I pull them up there are no radishes! The root end is red and there's just the slightest bulge. What am I doing wrong? The soil is good and I added manure, compost, and fertilizer prior to planting. Thanks for any advice.

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Comments (8)

daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
9 years ago
I think that not thinning is a common cause of bulb-less root development. Hot weather is too, but I doubt that's what's going on here. Of course, lots of nitrogen will encourage greenery and not bulbing. Lack of sun will do that too, though the tops would look leggy. I don't have regular success with radishes, actually. They can be pretty finicky.
digdirt2
9 years ago
Agee. No thinning means no radishes. And they need what many would call vicious thinning too. Also they don't tolerate lots of N in the soil. It gives you beautiful tops but no bulbs.

Dave
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Thanks, guys! I did go ahead and pull some. They were small, but tasted great! Last time I tried to grow radishes, the roots didn't do anything. Later I found out that you need to thin them early. So I feel moderately successful this time. I'm curious to see what the next ones do. I planted another crop that is a couple of weeks old, and I just planted a third crop (I think it will stay cool enough). Hope all goes well! =P I'm growing lots of new things this year--spinach, lettuce, chard, broccoli, kale... I had none of that the last two years. I grew spinach in a pot once, and someone gave me a potted lettuce once, but that's it. This is my third garden (very small garden, more like a hobby sampler, LOL!)
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Late planting, not enough water, too much nitrogen, or planted too close together. Crowded radishes won't "bulb" properly and judging by the length of the stems and the skinny roots I'm 99.9% certain this was the cause. From the soil mix I assume you are doing a square foot garden. How close did you plant them? Rodney
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I agree with Dennis, it is root maggots. The adult is a fly that lays eggs on the soil surface much like houseflies lay eggs on dog poop in the yard. The eggs become maggots which feed for a few weeks and then become flies which repeat the cycle. While there are chemical controls, for a home gardener they seem like overkill to me. The key is to prevent the flies from laying the eggs near crops that can be affected. This is very easy to accomplish with row covers. The nice thing about the crops affected is that none of them require any insect pollination. In the case of your radish you aren't growing it to flower, you are growing it to form a root you wish to eat. Thus, keeping all insects away from the plant isn't an issue since pollination isn't what we want. A simple, lightweight row cover that lets wind, water and sun through and only stops insects will work 100% as long as you put it over the planted area as soon as you sow seed. Keep it on until harvest time and no more root maggot problems. The maggot stage only lasts 3-4 weeks, but may occur several times in a growing season. As gross as the radishes may look right now, they are 100% edible as long as the wounds have not introduced rot. Even if rot has started, if it is just superficial the rotted areas can be cut away and the rest is just fine.
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Comments (4)
Radishes in your zone should be planted around middle of March, or may be even earlier, depending on the weather. Even in my zone 5 I planted them last year on March 30, and this year on April 20 - the spring was very late this year. Just to compare - my first crop this year was great - every seed ended up with nice radish. My second crop in the same spot (50 inches apart from the first one) that I planted in May was just 1/3 good. Most ended up in the compost pile. They like cool weather and very full sun. They also like short day. This means, the earlier in the spring you put them in, the better crop you will get. You even can utilize some shady areas in early spring, while the trees didn't have leaves yet. You also may have some success with them later in fall. But this is all general rules. Your radishes look not only bolted , but generally unhappy. They either grew too crowded or didn't get enough nitrogen(this is unlikely as the soil looks good). They need to be thinned as soon as they come up to make distance between the plants as one full grown radish(check the mature size of your radish on the packet, they all different) if you plant them in rows, the distance between rows should be at least 8 inches. If you do square foot gardening, then 16 per square foot. Hope, this helps.
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drcindy
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the info. I suppose it is too late to thin them, right?
digdirt2
9 years ago
Yeah plus no way to reduce all the N either. But there is still time to replant.
slimiest_okra
9 years ago
What variety did you plant?
dinner_s
9 years ago
I am having the same problem! I've actually had the same problem for the last 3 or 4 times I've planted radishes. I'm really glad I'm not the only one.

One thing that seems to help is to add a second layer of dense mulch around the base of each plant after the leaves are tall. I use grass clippings. Keep them watered well. Then the top of the red stringy root often bulbs out into a radish. This has worked in one of my radish plots this year, but the second plot still isn't bulbing out. I don't think I added enough grass clippings there, though, so I'm going to try that next time someone mows the grass.
bcomplx
9 years ago
Radishes have a false reputation for being easy because they are fast. In reality, they want everything perfect for 30 days -- constant moisture, roomy spacing, plenty of sun. I get good radishes in spring, great radishes in fall.
Deeby
9 years ago
I plant a little deeper than is advised. Before I did, I always washed the seeds away when watering.

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