echinosum wrote:
songbird Wrote:
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.

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;

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.


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.

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