Think radishes are only a spring vegetable? Then you're missing out on a second harvest of juicy root vegetables in the fall.
And you don't need greenhouses or special varieties for this. The whole secret is in the right timing and a little trick with shading.
Radishes love coolness and short daylight hours, so they can be sown twice: in March-April and in August. But how to avoid bolting and get large fruits?
Carry out the first sowing as soon as the soil warms up to +5°C. Prepare the bed in the fall: add humus and ash.
Sow seeds to a depth of 1.5 cm, with a distance of 15 cm between rows. After germination, thin out the sprouts, leaving 5 cm between plants.
To speed up growth, cover the bed with agrofibre - this will retain moisture and protect against frost. In just 20-25 days, you will harvest your first crop.
Start the second sowing in mid-August. Choose a place that is in the shade after 4:00 pm - for example, under a tree crown or near a fence.
Radishes planted at the end of summer do not bolt, as daylight hours become shorter.
Before sowing, water the soil generously and mulch it with mown grass - this will prevent the soil from overheating. Sow the seeds a little deeper (2 cm) so that they do not dry out.
But there is a nuance: for the second harvest, choose varieties marked “resistant to bolting” - for example, “Heat” or “French Breakfast”.
If the weather is hot, arrange for the radishes to be “sprinkled” in the morning and evening – this will reduce the air temperature around the plants.
Those who use the method collect root vegetables before the first frost, and autumn radishes are often larger and juicier than spring ones.
Try it and you will forget about buying radishes in the store!
