Post pictures of your radishes here...

And also wins the prize for the best name for a small vegetable!

 

By Jove, I think you're getting the hang of it.

 

Of course the Radish Pagodas work.

About thirty days after sowing the seeds into the prototype.


Four from the top and four from the side cut-outs.



You can see that they bulb up faster nearer the top of the pagoda.



About twenty-seven days after sowing the seeds into version 2.1.

 

Today's pickings.


They were sown in between rows of Gai Choy (Chinese mustard greens).

 

Repeating a similar combination in early August in a different box.


Today's French Breakfast pickings.

 

Daikon Radish.



Sown last autumn just out of curiosity. Apparently, farmers use this particular variety for weed suppression and for prevention of soil compaction.

As you can see, they have bolted due to the unusually warm weather earlier this year so I have been harvesting them for leaf veg.




The leaves, stalk and flowers are all edible and I find them quite tasty stir-fried until soft with garlic and oyster sauce.

 

Sown three weeks ago.



Believe it or not, those were perfectly straight rows until, that is, our urban critters (foxes, squirrels and/or the resident ginger feline) started jumping into the boxes - hence, why now they have mesh covers.

 

I've tried many times but just can't grow them, or Spring Onions

 

@john558

My own secret voodoo to big juicy bulbous radishes can found in post #20 above.

The only thing to add is to make sure that the soil is moisture retentive and dug over and raked until you get a fine tilth if growing in open ground.

As for spring onions or onions of any kind, I don't have much trouble growing them from seed to 15+mm thick before harvesting. I will take some pictures of how I do it tomorrow.

 

A Slight Spring Onion Detour.

If you're stuck on what variety to grow then I would recommend the white skinned White Lisbon and Ishikura spring onions. Both of these are UK winter hardy and can be left in the ground for about two years before they set seed. If you harvest using the cut and come method then they may last indefinitely.

Also, don't overlook onions that you can treat exactly like spring onions, reds such as North Holland Blood Red and Red Brunswick are excellent for this purpose.

Anyway, here's how I do it:



1) Sprinkle seeds onto a tray filled with multipurpose compost.




2) Loosely cover seeds with a 5-10mm layer of compost, water well then cover the tray with cling film.

Place the tray some where warm such as on top of the central heating gas burner or a hot radiator to speed up germination.

Move the tray onto a bright window sill once the majority of seeds have germinated. Remove the cling film after a day or two.

Water moderately well only if the compost appears really dry or if the spring onions look floppy from thirst. The tips will turn brown if the compost is bone dry.

Repeat this cycle of watering to encourage strong root growth.




3) Place the tray into a cold frame outdoors for about two weeks to harden off once the spring onions are about 1.5-2mm diameter thick.

After that, leave the tray outdoors completely exposed to the elements in readiness for transplating.




4) Wait until the spring onions are at least 2mm thick before transplating into their final location, anything smaller is too delicate and fiddly to handle.

The final location should be under direct sunlight (or dapple sun amounting to at least 4-5hrs of sunlight during the height of summer), with a light breeze passing through and away from weeds such as nettles. The soil should be moderately fertilised, moisture retentive with good drainage.




5) Dib a hole and bury the spring onion to at least half of its length. The spacing can be as little as two inches apart in compost and slightly further apart in loam based soil. This will allow room for each spring onion to fatten up and room for you to insert your fingers into the compost or soil so that they can be lifted up whole by their roots.

Keep the compost or soil well watered once the spring onions are established and growing well, especially during the height of summer.



Alternatively, do what our Turkish members do: grow using onion sets specifically for the green leaves.






To speed up leaf production, they push the onion sets into the soil to just below the surface instead of 2-3 inches deep like with other bulbs.

 

About fifty days after sowing.


All the big ones: Cherrybelle on the left, French Breakfast 3 on the right.



You can see that, although French Breakfast 3 produces a larger plant, it is quite slow to bulb up when compared to Cherrybelle - hence, why there were not many ready for pulling.

 

Assorted radish mix - the first harvest of the season.


The (Purple Plum?) were massive.





Here they were a few moments ago.





Plenty left behind to fatten up.



As far as I can tell, the assorted seed mix consists of five or six different varieties of radish with the purple ones being the first to reach maturity followed by the yellow-ish ones.

 

They are amazing! So nice and tasty looking.