Radish is a fast-ripening vegetable that can be planted 2 times per season. In early spring, summer varieties begin to grow. Their characteristic ruby ​​root vegetables are found in almost every store. But not everyone knows that winter varieties are planted in summer in order to get an excellent harvest by autumn. How to plant radishes in the summer will be discussed in this article.

When to plant radish a second time in the summer

Winter radish is sown in mid-summer. Landing can begin in mid-June and last until September. This is the time of a long daylight, which is so necessary for the vegetable. Winter varieties develop more slowly than spring varieties, but have a larger size, retain density and crunchy properties for longer, have a more acute taste. They are also stored longer than spring ones. At the same time, re-sowing of spring varieties is also carried out.Radishes can be grown wherever there is sun and moist fertile soil, even in the smallest urban areas. Later varieties tolerate heat well, although they require regular watering. Radish is a cold-resistant crop. Its shoots tolerate frosts to -3 ° C, and adult plants - up to -6 ° C. Seeds germinate at a temperature of +2 ... + 4 ° С. The optimum air temperature is + 13 ° C, in greenhouses or greenhouses - + 16 ° C. The formation of the root crop occurs at a temperature of +15 ... + 18 ° C.

Did you know? Radishes began to grow in China. From there he came to Europe in the 16th century.

Selection of the best varieties for growing

Radish is unpretentious, so you can choose different varieties for its cultivation. Spring ones are great for salads, while summer ones, designed for winter use, go well with other vegetables in stews or soups. Red-fruited radishes add decorativeness to salads. Winter is more diverse, among them you can find different specimens for the coloring of the peel and pulp. It is believed that these root crops are more juicy and aromatic.

Some popular spring varieties:

1. French breakfast - fruiting period is 23 days. The owner of an oblong shape, red peel with a white tip.
2. Icicle- will please you with a harvest in 25 days. Her white root crop is long, thin, conical in shape.

Winter varieties intended for long-term storage:

1. Chinese rose - These are white root crops that you can taste 52 days after planting.
2. Chinese white - excellent variety, with later fruiting - after 60 days. It has large, long, creamy white root vegetables with a blunt tip.
3. Round black spanish - the owner of black peel and white pulp with a fruiting period of 55 days.

Optimal landing times

When choosing a planting time, focus on the length of the growing season. To calculate the time of planting, count from the date you want to harvest, the ripening period and get the date of planting. Keep in mind that you need to harvest before the first frost.

Did you know? Depending on the variety, the radish root can be spherical, elongated and conical. And the color of his peel — white, yellow, pink, red, purple and even black.

Features of growing radish

Radish is grown to produce root vegetables, although its leaves can also be used in the preparation of salads. The soil for it should be rich in organic matter and well drained. Plants need a sunny place. If they are planted in a strong shade or where there are too many other plants around them, then the radish will put all its energy into the growth of the leaves and will not form root crops. Some gardeners plant radishes on beds in batches with an interval of 10 days. This increases the use of radishes.

Soil preparation

In household plots from annual use, the soil is depleted and oxidized, so before planting plants, it is necessary to carry out work to improve the composition of the soil.

Technique:

1. Dig the soil. Lumps of land are broken because they can deform root crops during growth and radishes will lose their marketable shape.
2. To neutralize the acidity of the soil, ash or chalk is added. On acidic soil, plants will be weak with low yields, highly susceptible to rot infection.
3. Dense clay soil is always loosened with sand, peat or other loose components: sawdust, perlite.
4. For fertilizing with fertilizers, rotted manure is introduced at the rate of 8-10 kg / 1 m². If you prefer mineral fertilizers, then add 60 g of ammonium nitrate and superphosphate and 40 g of potassium chloride per 1 m².

Did you know? Oriental radish varieties, for example, daikon, can grow up to 60 cm in length and have a top leaf of no less size. Such a radish will need about 0.4 m² for growth and development.

Observe a three-year crop rotation. This will help prevent diseases that can reduce yields. Before the radish on the site should grow potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots. You can not plant other cruciferous - cabbage, radish.

Seed preparation

Radish seeds have good germination and even if stored in a cool room, they germinate with a 75% probability. Preparing seeds for sowing is to take larger specimens. They not only form larger root crops, but also bloom faster. If you are not sure about the quality of the seeds, you can disinfect them by treating them with hot water at a temperature of + 60 ° С. High temperature is detrimental to fungal spores.As a disease prevention, the seeds are treated before sowing for 20 minutes in a solution of any fungicide. This may be the drug "Alirin-B", "Bayleton" or any other. The action of most of them is based on the fact that bacteria that destroy pathogens are introduced into the soil, contributing to the improvement of the soil and the development of beneficial microflora.

Did you know? Radish has its own holiday - uhthen the festival in Mexico, celebrated on December 23. It is called "Radish Night."

Sowing technique

Summer planting is carried out by seeds in the ground. Sowing method - in rows. The width between them is 15 cm. The seeding rate is 4–5 g / 1 m². As for the depth, the seeds are sown very close to the surface, at a depth of 1-2 cm. These are the best conditions for the development of the root, and then the root crop. When the crops are thickened after emergence, thinning is performed.

Care Features

Caring for radish is extremely simple. It consists of:

• glaze;
• fertilizer application;
• loosening the soil;
• disease prevention;
• pest control.

Important! Root crops grow much better if you provide them with several small irrigations per week than with one plentiful one.

Watering Rules

Radishes need water, but not too much. It is recommended to water crops every 4–5 days. Watering depth - no more than 5-10 cm. Watering time does not matter. Do not let the soil dry completely before the next watering. This will lead to cracking of root crops. The soil should always remain moist to the touch. If the summer is too hot, cover the beds with mulch. It will retain soil moisture and inhibit weed growth. The depth of the layer with mulch is 2–4 cm.

Fertilizer

If fertilizers are applied during planting, then do not fertilize the radishes with something else. It is preferable when planting the introduction of organics. This can be manure, bird droppings, bone meal, algae, compost. They will gradually nourish the plants, creating a sustainable environment for growth. The composition of any organic substance has the necessary components: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as a number of other minerals that can improve the properties of the soil.

Did you know? The radish oil was known to the ancient Egyptians even before the olive oil came into use.

Some gardeners prefer to feed radishes with mineral fertilizers, motivating this by the fact that this crop grows so fast that it simply does not have time to absorb the slowly released beneficial substances from organics.

Soil loosening

Remove all weeds during cultivation and do not allow them to germinate. They are competitors to your root crops in the fight for moisture and nutrients. Loosening solves 3 main tasks:

• lightens the soil to give the root crop more room for growth;
• removes weeds;
• provides oxygen access to plant roots.

You can loosen the garden hoe, electric or mechanical cultivator, a day after each watering. If it is rainy, then loosening is carried out after the soil dries.

Pest and Disease Control

At the heart of disease prevention is compliance with crop rotation rules. Do not plant radish after plants with which it has common pests: cabbage, turnips and other cruciferous plants. But since fungal spores spread along with air and water, you need to know the main signs of diseases and how to deal with them. In nature, there are many fungi that can destroy the radish crop or make it unattractive and tasteless.

Important! Most diseases develop well if the radish grows in a very humid environment, so to combat diseases, review the schedule of watering the beds and make sure that the water does not stagnate in the ground.

Signs of fungal infection are:

• spots on the leaves;
• leaf wilting;
• poor development of the plant as a whole.

Wetland and constant moisture contribute to the emergence and development of fungal diseases. And if diseases are not a problem for spring crops, then summer plantings need to be given increased attention.

The main diseases of radish:

1. White rust - manifested by small white spots on the front side of the sheet. The spots look like swellings, which, breaking through, leave a white oily coating. Such a radish leaves in color and often does not form a root crop. To combat the disease, crops are treated with "Ridomil-Gold" or "Ditan-M" preparations.
2. Kila - A specific cruciferous disease that deforms the root crop, forming growths on it that begin to rot. The plant lags in growth and dies. The fungus is extremely viable, therefore, all plants infected with it are destroyed, and the area on which it was found is not used for growing cruciferous plants for 10 years.
3. Mosaic virus - manifests itself in the form of concentric circles on the leaves. The circle usually has a lighter shade and the inside of the circle is the same color as the rest of the sheet plate. Gradually, the circles blacken, and the sheet dies. There are no ways to combat mosaic, so all plants infected with the virus are destroyed.
4. Powdery mildew - manifests itself in the form of a white coating on the leaves, resembling pollination with flour. Such leaves gradually deform and die. For processing plants suitable drugs "Alirin-B", "Gamair", "Quadrice", etc.
5. Downy mildew - manifested by yellowing of the leaves. The underside of the leaf plate is covered with a grayish coating. Affected leaves die off. Use for processing "Fitosporin-M".

Fungi are not the only problem that can negatively affect your crops. No one is safe from insects, especially in the summer. Avoid overgrowth of weeds to reduce pests in crops.

Signs of pests:

• faded deformed leaves;
• the presence of tunnels, grooves, holes on them;
• the presence of larvae in root crops.

Some insects lay larvae in the soil next to the radish. Hatching, they crawl to root crops, damaging them. To get rid of the larvae, add lime or wood ash to the aisles.

Important! If the radish is not dug up for a long time, then voids form inside it, and the taste becomes grassy.

Pests such as pests can annoy plantings with radishes:

1. Cruciferous flea - It lives excellently on plants and in soil in warm, dry conditions and attacks only those crops that lack water. To control the cruciferous flea, it is enough that the soil is moist.
2. Caterpillars - like most insects, they prefer to live on the bottom of the leaf. Just flip the sheet and you can find them there. Caterpillars are fought by manual collection. You can treat plants with insecticides. But experienced farmers prefer not to do this because the radish is too quick to eat and the toxins do not have time to leave the root crops.
3. Crucifer bug - it damages leaves, leaving holes and traces of mucus on which spores of fungi settle. Bed bugs have a characteristic unpleasant odor. To combat bugs, use a spray of plants with a soap solution. It can consist of 300 g of soap dissolved in a bucket of water.

When using insecticides to control pests, focus on those that indicate a "wide spectrum of action." Such drugs are effective against many insects.

Features of collection and storage

In general, the ripening of winter radish varieties will take 20-30 days. If these are late-ripening varieties - 50-60 days. As soon as you see the formed root crops above the surface of the bed, it means that the crop is ripe for harvest. Do not leave radishes in the ground for long. Root crops will not grow anymore, but insects can damage them. Remove plants from the beds for the tops. The roots of ripe radish reach 2.5 cm in length.

They gently clean the soil from them and lay them to dry. If the roots are smaller, then leave the radishes to grow a little more. Winter radishes are harvested in autumn. Whatever variety you grow, harvest until the first frost. Winter varieties can be stored for a long time without losing their properties. Some varieties can be stored in crates with plenty of straw throughout the winter.

The radish tops are cut with an ordinary knife. If you wish, you can use it in salads. For this, washed greens are dried and stored in a refrigerator in a plastic bag for 3-5 days. Growing radishes is one of the easiest and fastest jobs available in your garden. But in order to get a good crop, follow the basic rules for growing it.