Planting radishes in the winter to get tasty and juicy fruits in the spring is the dream of every gardener. For it to become a reality, you need to not only choose the right crop variety, but also observe the timing of seed application in the soil, and then carry out full-fledged plant care.
The benefits of growing radishes in the winter
Winter sowing of radish has many advantages, because of which gardeners plant it, despite a certain risk of crop loss. The main advantages of growing radishes for the winter include:
- May Harvest. Root crops ripen earlier than planted in the spring for 2-3 weeks. If you cover the garden bed with film, you can reduce this period by another 7-10 days.
- Harvest is high quality.. All diseased and weak seeds in frozen soil die. Only the strongest rudiments remain, from which a healthy radish grows.
- In early spring, the seeds do not require watering. To germinate it is enough that moisture that they receive from the soil during the melting of snow.
- Plants are resistant to pests, since their main enemies in the face of a carrot fly and a cruciferous flea are still sleeping.
- Frost tolerance culture. Crops that survived the winter are not afraid of spring frosts.
If the seed was of poor quality and did not sprout, the gardener will not be left without a crop. He always has the opportunity to sow new beds in the spring.
Autumn varieties of radishes for planting in the winter
When choosing a radish variety for planting in the winter, you need to focus on three main criteria:
- resistance to shooting;
- good tolerance to frost;
- low need for sunlight.
The best varieties of radishes that are suitable for planting in the fall are listed in the table below:
Grade name | Ripening speed | Taste qualities | Productivity |
Heat | Early ripe, after the emergence of seedlings, the crop can be harvested in 15 days. | Delicate mild taste. | High. |
Dawn | Early ripe, the fruits can be harvested after 18-25 days, the field of emergence of seedlings. | Mild flavor with a slight spiciness. | High. The variety feels good in conditions of shortage of sunlight. |
Pink red with white tip | Mid early. Harvested 25-30 days after planting. | Pleasant delicate taste. | High. |
Champion | Early ripe. Harvest can be harvested 20-25 days after emergence. | The taste is sweet, with a slight bitterness. | Medium. With 1 sq. m you can collect about 1 kg of fruit. |
Presto | Early ripe. Harvest can be harvested 16-20 days after emergence. | Weak taste. | High. m you can collect about 2.5 kg of radish. |
Radish Heat
Radish Dawn
Radish Pink-red with a white tip
Radish Champion
Radish Presto
The listed varieties of radishes are used for planting in the winter, as they tolerate frosts best.
The conditions for growing radishes in the winter
In order to get the long-awaited radish crop in spring, you need to properly plant the seeds in late autumn. To do this, you must comply with 5 conditions:
- The bed should be elevated. This will prevent flooding of the seeds during snow melt.
- The predecessors of winter radish seeds can be cucumbers, tomatoes, legumes, potatoes. Do not plant root vegetables in the area where they previously grew: horseradish, watercress, cabbage or radish. Radish does not grow well on beds that were inhabited by cruciferous. It should not be planted in the same place for 3 consecutive years, even if fertilizers are applied.
- Seeds for planting in the winter need to take 2 times more than in spring. This will reduce the likelihood of crop loss due to death or poor quality crops.
- Be sure to calibrate the seeds before applying to the soil. To do this, they are immersed in salt water for several minutes. Planted only the material that sank to the bottom. Floated seeds are thrown away.
- After drying, the seeds are decontaminated. For this purpose, a weak solution of potassium permanganate is suitable. The exposure time of future radishes should not exceed half an hour. After extracting the seeds, they need to be dried. This will allow them to accumulate moisture and swell, but not to germinate.
By adopting these recommendations, you can minimize the risk of seed death and get a high yield of radishes.
Landing time
The timing of planting radishes in the winter depends on the region of Russia, since the climate in different parts of the country is significantly different. It is also important to consider the weather at the time the seeds are introduced into the ground.
The optimum soil temperature is -1-0 degrees. Under these conditions, the soil freezes slightly. An indispensable condition is the onset of persistent frost. Otherwise, the seeds will germinate during the thaw, and upon the arrival of cold weather will freeze.
In the Moscow Region winter radish is planted in the second half of October. In the northern regions of Russia, seeds are sown earlier - in early October. Residents of the southern regions can afford to put seeds into the soil even in early November.
There is no exact date for planting radishes before winter. It is important to consider the weather forecast for a particular year. A plant is planted when there is confidence that the air temperature will not rise above 0 degrees. A lunar calendar for a gardener designed for a specific area can help determine the timing.
Soil preparation
The site should be well lit. Shaded places for planting radishes in the winter are not suitable. The better the soil warms up, the faster the first shoots appear. In addition, the lack of sunlight will lead to the fact that the radish will begin to grow tops, and the fruits themselves will be small.
If the soil is too dense, then peat or sand must be added to it in advance. During the winter period, the earth always loses its former friability, so it will be difficult for seeds to break through towards the sun.
If the soil is poor, it needs to be nourished. Organic fertilizers in the form of humus or compost are suitable for this purpose. For 1 square. m take 1 kg of fertilizing. Alternatively, minerals containing phosphorus and potassium can be used. Make them according to the instructions for use. Radish loves soil rich in ash, so you can make a glass of this fertilizer in the garden.
In advance, you need to take care of the presence of warm soil, which is used to sprinkle seeds. To do this, it needs to be kept for some time in a warm room.
The beds are prepared before the onset of frost. It will be difficult to make furrows and fertilize solid soil, trapped in frost.
When fertilizers are introduced into the future place for planting radishes, they dig the earth and make furrows on the bed. Their depth should be about 4 cm. The minimum width of the indent between the furrows is 10 cm. If the garden area allows, you can increase this gap by another 5-10 cm. You need to make sure that there are no stones and lumps on the bed. Only in loose soil will seeds feel comfortable. With high soil acidity it is necessary to use slaked lime.
So that the prepared plot of land is not washed away by rains and not blown out by the winds, it is covered with a film. Regardless of the timing of planting, you need to prepare the garden in the first half of October.
Features radish planting in the fall
So that radish seeds do not die during winter frosts, you need to observe some features of their planting in the fall. Mandatory rules include:
- Seeds should not be planted in the soil to a depth of more than 5 cm. They must be dry.
- For better visibility, the seeds are pre-labeled. They can withstand about 3 minutes in a solution of iodine at a concentration of 1%. Then the seeds are sprinkled with chalk. This will allow you to evenly distribute them across the bed.
- The distance between each seed should be about 3 cm.
- When the planting is completed, the bed is sprinkled with pre-prepared soil.
- Top landing cover with a layer of mulch. It will act as a pillow that protects the seeds from sudden changes in temperature, thaws and frost, which are characteristic of the spring period. Good material is spruce branches (spruce, pine) or dry branches of shrubs. The mulch layer should be at least 20 cm.
- In winter, you need to come to the garden to additionally cover the garden with snow. This will increase the chances of successful seed survival.
Watering the beds after planting is not permissible. Otherwise, the seeds will begin to germinate and die with the onset of real frost.
Crop care
In winter, radishes do not require any maintenance. After the onset of heat, the garden bed is cleaned of a layer of mulch and wait for the first shoots. It is possible to remove the covering material only after the warm weather is established.
After the first shoots appear, the bed needs to be thinned out. This is especially important when seeds were not applied individually, but in bulk. All weak shoots are removed. The distance between seedlings should be at least 5 cm.
The bed needs to be regularly inspected for weeds. When they appear, weeding is carried out, since they do not allow young fruits to develop normally.
Features of watering
The frequency of watering depends on how rainy the spring came out. It is important not to overfill the seedlings and not to allow them to dry out. If there is little moisture, the radish will grow tough and bitter. If there is too much liquid, the root crop becomes watery, loose and loses its natural taste. Another sign of excessive watering is the presence of cracks in the fruit.
The optimum soil moisture for radishes is 80%. To determine this indicator without any instruments, you need to squeeze the earth in your hand. If it rolls into a ball, and a moist shine remains on the surface of the palm, then the root crop will feel great in such a land. If the soil crumbles, but does not crumble, there is not enough water. If water appears in the hand after compression, watering should be reduced.
If the spring is dry and not rainy, the garden is watered sparingly. The earth must be loosened so that a hard crust does not form on its upper layer. This will saturate the fruits with oxygen, so that they will grow.
Fertilizer application
Fertilizing is required on depleted soils. This procedure is mandatory if the soil has not been fertilized before planting.
To nourish, you can use the infusion of young grass. The recipe for its preparation:
- 1 kg of collected grass is poured into 10 liters of water.
- Add to the resulting composition 2 kg of chicken manure.
- Cover the container with a net.
- The resulting composition is mixed daily.
- When the fermentation process begins, the same amount of fresh water is added to the infusion.
- The finished composition is watered with plants. Fertilizer is applied under the root, trying not to get on the leaves.
The infusion takes about 7-14 days. To speed up the fermentation process, you need to keep the container in a warm place. Very poor soils require double top dressing over the entire period of radish growth. It is not recommended to add nitrogenous fertilizers to the garden, as the tops will grow and the fruits themselves will remain small.
In addition to herbal infusion, you can use compost, humus, nitrate, ash. Fertile land does not require fertilizer.
Pest and Disease Control
If warm weather is established very early, even winter radishes can be attacked by pests and diseases. For the plant are dangerous:
- fleas;
- whitewash;
- keel;
- blackleg;
- bacteriosis.
To protect fruits from pests in the early spring, it is enough to sprinkle tops with ashes. Ash will enter the respiratory system of fleas and midges, as a result of which they will die.
A mixture of ash and lime helps to prevent further reproduction of insects. Components are taken in equal proportions. Powder sprinkled tops 1 time per week. Processing is carried out after rain and in dry weather.
For preventive purposes, you can use a decoction of onion peels. This means you need to water the seedlings. The smell of the broth discourages pests, preventing them from spoiling young shoots.
From whitewash helps a solution of 2 tbsp. l mustard and 1 tbsp. salt. These components are dissolved in 10 liters of water and watered with a plant.
If insects actively breed and attack radishes, it is necessary to resort to chemicals. You can use Tod, Zolon, Kaiser and other drugs. Funds are deposited according to the instructions for use.
To combat bacteriosis, a lime solution helps (2 gallons of water will require 100 g of lime). If the radish is damaged by a black leg, a composition based on laundry soap (50 g) and copper sulfate (1 tbsp) can be used. They are bred in 10 liters of water and watered with radishes.
Harvesting and storage
To root crops easily come out of the ground, the bed needs to be watered. It is recommended to bring water 3 hours before harvesting. From moistened soil radish will come out without the application of effort. Just pull the plant by the tops.
Fruits are suitable for collection, the size of which has reached 3 cm in diameter. If the radish is small, it must be left in the ground for ripening. It is important to prevent the fruits from being in the soil for too long, as this will negatively affect their taste characteristics.
Vegetables should not be washed before being stored. They shake the ground from them, cut the leaves, leaving the stalks 3 cm in size. The peeled root vegetables are put in plastic bags and stored in the refrigerator. As a rule, winter radishes do not grow for a long time. Juicy fruits rich in vitamins are eaten in a few weeks.
Common mistakes when planting radishes in autumn
Top 5 mistakes made by inexperienced gardeners when planting radishes in the winter:
- too early planting of seeds in warm soil;
- sowing on the eve of the thaw;
- the use of wet covering material;
- introduction of a small amount of seeds into the soil;
- planting radishes in areas where water stagnates.
Knowing the most common mistakes and not allowing them, it will be possible to grow juicy and tasty fruits.
Having mastered the technology of planting radishes in the winter, it will be difficult to abandon this method of obtaining an early harvest of tasty and juicy vegetables. To do this, it’s enough to adopt a few simple rules, not to be mistaken with the timing of planting, choosing a frost-resistant cultivar and the optimal place for the garden, to competently take care of seedlings in early spring.