I'm about to go crazy trying to grow the easiest of all vegetables to
grow -- radishes.

No matter what location I use, no matter what soil, no matter what depth I
plant them, I always get the same result: A two-inch-long spindly stem, but
never a root.

I follow all the instructions on the packet very carefully, but the result
is ALWAYS the same.

Any suggestions welcome.

Ray wrote:
I'm about to go crazy trying to grow the easiest of all vegetables to
grow -- radishes.

No matter what location I use, no matter what soil, no matter what
depth I plant them, I always get the same result: A two-inch-long
spindly stem, but never a root.

I follow all the instructions on the packet very carefully, but the
result is ALWAYS the same.

Any suggestions welcome.

How much sun per day do they get? What is the temperature range through the
day?

D

Ray wrote:

I'm about to go crazy trying to grow the easiest of all vegetables to
grow -- radishes.

No matter what location I use, no matter what soil, no matter what
depth I plant them, I always get the same result: A two-inch-long
spindly stem, but never a root.

I follow all the instructions on the packet very carefully, but the
result is ALWAYS the same.

Any suggestions welcome.

Radish is a cool weather crop, best planted in very early spring after
danger of a hard freeze has passed. If you attempt to grow radish in
hot weather you will get woody radishes, exactly what you described.

I've planted radishes at least a dozen times -- in all locations, at all
times of the year -- always with the same result.

"Brooklyn1" wrote in message
...

Ray wrote:

I'm about to go crazy trying to grow the easiest of all vegetables to
grow -- radishes.

No matter what location I use, no matter what soil, no matter what
depth I plant them, I always get the same result: A two-inch-long
spindly stem, but never a root.

I follow all the instructions on the packet very carefully, but the
result is ALWAYS the same.

Any suggestions welcome.

Radish is a cool weather crop, best planted in very early spring after
danger of a hard freeze has passed. If you attempt to grow radish in
hot weather you will get woody radishes, exactly what you described.

"Brooklyn1" wrote in message
...

Ray wrote:

I'm about to go crazy trying to grow the easiest of all vegetables to
grow -- radishes.

No matter what location I use, no matter what soil, no matter what
depth I plant them, I always get the same result: A two-inch-long
spindly stem, but never a root.

I follow all the instructions on the packet very carefully, but the
result is ALWAYS the same.

Any suggestions welcome.

Radish is a cool weather crop, best planted in very early spring after
danger of a hard freeze has passed. If you attempt to grow radish in
hot weather you will get woody radishes, exactly what you described.

I didn't read that, he said "never a root".

Ray wrote:
I've planted radishes at least a dozen times -- in all locations, at
all times of the year -- always with the same result.


To most growers radishes are pretty easy. Unless you give some more details
that allow us to work out what is different about your situation any advice
is a guess. So what is your climate, what is your soil like, what is the
range of the situations that you have planted in, what seed have you used?
How long do you wait after sprouting? Are you sure that you actually have
radish seed not some other brassica that has no significant root?


D

On Jul 29, 9:55*pm, "David Hare-Scott" wrote:
"Brooklyn1" *wrote in message
.. .

Ray wrote:

I'm about to go crazy trying to grow the easiest of all vegetables to
grow -- radishes.

No matter what location I use, no matter what soil, no matter what
depth I plant them, I always get the same result: A two-inch-long
spindly stem, but never a root.

I follow all the instructions on the packet very carefully, but the
result is ALWAYS the same.

Any suggestions welcome.

Radish is a cool weather crop, best planted in very early spring after
danger of a hard freeze has passed. *If you attempt to grow radish in
hot weather you will get woody radishes, exactly what you described.

I didn't read that, he said "never a root".

Ray wrote:
I've planted radishes at least a dozen times -- in all locations, at
all times of the year -- always with the same result.

To most growers radishes are pretty easy. *Unless you give some more details
that allow us to work out what is different about your situation any advice
is a guess. *So what is your climate, what is your soil like, what is the
range of the situations that you have planted in, what seed have you used?
How long do you wait after sprouting? Are you sure that you actually have
radish seed not some other brassica that has no significant root?

***I can empathize! I've had terrible results with a veg that is
supposed to be so easy that little kids plant it in their school
garden. I'm in So. Calif. coastal, and I DO NOT plant in hot weather
and I have good soil. Who knows...?

HB

Whilst in principle radish are easy, sow the seed, remove the weeds, pick them, a lot of people just can't grow them, so you are in good company. They are fussy.

Calling them cool season depends where you live and what variety you grow. Here in England I find sowing them too early in the spring it's too cold, they don't grow fast enough and so become small and woody. The Japanese grow some amazing radishes, and clearly the Japanese varieties are suited to a warmer climate.

They do need a reliably moist, reasonably fertile and water retentive soil to grow well. If you have cabbage fly, they'll attack your radishes. Being brassicas, they do need sufficient lime in the soil or they won't grow.

When preparing the planting bed, loosen the soil 6 to 10 inches deep, and mix in good compost or well-rotted manure. Sow seeds a half inch deep and 1 inch apart, in rows spaced 12 inches apart. After the seedlings appear, thin salad radishes to 3 inches apart; thin oriental radishes to 8 to 10 inches apart. Seeds typically sprout in three to seven days when sown in 60-degree soil.

Use fine soil. This is true of most root vegetables. They need to breathe in order to grow. Radish seeds and sprouts are tiny and do not grow well in soil that has not been broken up properly. While any type of soil works for growing radishes, keep it loose and fine. Doing so will make picking easier as well.

Radishes do not like hot weather. They do need about six hours of sunlight a day. Filtered sunlight is best. You can use netting to accomplish this. Simply stretch it over or across the area where radishes are planted. Radishes can be planted in shady areas of the garden, where other vegetables might fail.

Don’t be discouraged if a spring crop doesn’t meet your expectations. Your best shot at perfect radishes comes in fall, when the soil is getting cooler rather than warmer. Radishes make a good fall cover crop. Plant them after beans, peas or another nitrogen-fixing legume, and they will utilize nitrogen left behind in the soil. Later, when the plants are killed by cold winter weather, nitrogen and other nutrients will be returned to the soil.

Thanks -- I'll give your suggestions a work-out.



"allen73" wrote in message ...


'Ray[_3_ Wrote:
;965697']I'm about to go crazy trying to grow the easiest of all
vegetables to
grow -- radishes.

No matter what location I use, no matter what soil, no matter what depth
I
plant them, I always get the same result: A two-inch-long spindly stem,
but
never a root.

I follow all the instructions on the packet very carefully, but the
result
is ALWAYS the same.

Any suggestions welcome.

When preparing the planting bed, loosen the soil 6 to 10 inches deep,
and mix in good compost or well-rotted manure. Sow seeds a half inch
deep and 1 inch apart, in rows spaced 12 inches apart. After the
seedlings appear, thin salad radishes to 3 inches apart; thin oriental
radishes to 8 to 10 inches apart. Seeds typically sprout in three to
seven days when sown in 60-degree soil.

Use fine soil. This is true of most root vegetables. They need to
breathe in order to grow. Radish seeds and sprouts are tiny and do not
grow well in soil that has not been broken up properly. While any type
of soil works for growing radishes, keep it loose and fine. Doing so
will make picking easier as well.

Radishes do not like hot weather. They do need about six hours of
sunlight a day. Filtered sunlight is best. You can use netting to
accomplish this. Simply stretch it over or across the area where
radishes are planted. Radishes can be planted in shady areas of the
garden, where other vegetables might fail.

Don’t be discouraged if a spring crop doesn’t meet your expectations.
Your best shot at perfect radishes comes in fall, when the soil is
getting cooler rather than warmer. Radishes make a good fall cover crop.
Plant them after beans, peas or another nitrogen-fixing legume, and they
will utilize nitrogen left behind in the soil. Later, when the plants
are killed by cold winter weather, nitrogen and other nutrients will be
returned to the soil.




--
allen73

"BlackThumbRay" wrote:

I'll give your suggestions a work-out.

I've already advised you on how to grow radishes and here you are
still at it, and failing. The most important aspect of growing
radishes is to sow seeds in cool weather. As with all food crops grow
in rich friable soil, and keep well watered... growing a radish crop
is as basic as gardening gets, anyone who fails at radish growing
needs to forget gardening.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...-Radishes.aspx
http://gardening.about.com/od/proble...g-Problems.htm