Green radish (or Margelan) came to Russia from the East - traders from China brought it through the city of Margilan in Uzbekistan. This root crop was so popular with the locals that they began to breed it in their gardens. Green radish is an affordable and easy-to-care food crop.
Culture Description
Green radish differs from its counterparts - black and white - in a milder taste. It also has the following characteristics:
- It is divided into early, mid-ripening and late varieties;
- root crops are round and elongated;
- the root body is short - up to 15 cm, and wide - up to 10 cm in diameter;
- color - white, bright green, pink, red and purple;
- the flesh can also be of different colors;
- the part near the tops is always green;
- the average weight of one fruit is 500 g, but some specimens grow to 1 kg;
- pulp - moderately dense and juicy, without pronounced sharpness;
- average productivity - 6 kg / sq. m;
- root crops have good keeping quality;
- tolerates transportation well;
- reaches technical maturity in the period from 60 to 90 days.
The best varieties
There are many varieties of this vegetable, however, the following varieties are most popular with us:
- Early ripening:
- Green goddess - a fairly new variety, characterized by an interesting taste with a small speck. The shape is round, the color is green, the flesh is tender and crispy. Harvest can be stored for a long time. Fruit weight - 400 g, matures in 60-63 days.
- Southerner - characterized by high productivity, the shape is oval-round, the skin color is greenish, the weight of the fruit is 250 g, the pulp is juicy, the color is white.
- Northerner - the growing season is 60 days, the form is obovate with a sharp base, pink large head. The flesh is tender, juicy, with a sweet-spicy taste, the weight of the root crop is 500-890 g.
- Aelita - ripens after 65 days from the appearance of the first shoots. The fruit has an elliptical shape, the color is green. The mass of the fruit is 200-400 g, the flesh is tender, sweet and juicy, the taste with a small speck.
- Green goddess - a fairly new variety, characterized by an interesting taste with a small speck. The shape is round, the color is green, the flesh is tender and crispy. Harvest can be stored for a long time. Fruit weight - 400 g, matures in 60-63 days.
- Mid-season:
- Late ripening:
- Oktyabrskaya-1 - the growing season is 75 days, the shape of the root crop is round-oval, the color of the peel is white, the head is green, the flesh is white, tender, juicy, the taste is mildly sharp.
- Troyandova - growing season - 80-85 days. The shape of the vegetable is oval, the color is pink. The weight of the root crop is 670-700 g, with delicate pulp, the taste is pleasant with bright shades, the yield is 6-7 kg per 1 sq. m
- Oktyabrskaya-1 - the growing season is 75 days, the shape of the root crop is round-oval, the color of the peel is white, the head is green, the flesh is white, tender, juicy, the taste is mildly sharp.
What is the use of green radish?
Green radish is rich in biologically active substances that, with prolonged use, have a good effect on health:
- speeds up the metabolism;
- cleanses the body;
- possesses important minerals (iodine, phosphorus, magnesium, iron) and vitamins;
- establishes the work of many organs.
Presowing events
Before planting a radish, spend a few presowing events. It is necessary to choose a place for planting, prepare the soil and seed material.
Seat selection
Choose a place with good lighting and follow the rules of crop rotation. Radish is unpretentious to soil acidity; it grows well on both neutral and alkaline soils. By structure, choose loam or sandstone.
If the soil is too acidified, it is better to deoxidize it with dolomite flour at the rate of 400 g / sq. m. The soil must be carefully dug up without breaking earth clods. Heavy clay soils lighten with peat and sand. You can decompose compost and peat if you plan a spring planting - 6 kg / sq. m
Predecessors
Green radish should be planted after the following crops:
- nightshade;
- cucumbers
- Luke;
- garlic
- melons.
Re-plant any kind of radish in one place is possible only after 3-4 years. This root vegetable should not be grown after silage, corn, cabbage.
Seed preparation
First, calibrate the seeds and sort them. You should know that the seeds are able to maintain their qualities for 4 years. If the expiration date has expired, then you need to get rid of them.
Select the largest and most even seeds. To increase germination, soak them with growth stimulants, for example, 2 drops of Epin per 100 ml of water, and leave for 4 hours. This should be done the day before sowing. Dry the seeds thoroughly.
Open sowing
Factors affecting the timing of planting:
- maturity of varieties;
- climate;
- day length
- landing purpose;
- Features of care and method of planting.
The optimal terms, depending on the region, are as follows:
- The middle strip of Russia - end of April - beginning of May. It can be planted from autumn to winter.
- Ural - the second half - the end of April.
- Siberia - the first half of April, if the temperature has settled at around 4 degrees Celsius.
Planting radishes in open ground is carried out in several stages:
- Dig the earth on the bayonet of a shovel, remove the roots of weeds and the root growth of trees.
- Grow radish on high beds. Use boards for this - raise the soil 100-150 mm, fill the surface of the bed with a nutrient solution of organic and mineral fertilizers, level the surface.
- On a bed 1 m wide, make 3 rows at a distance of 30 cm from each other. The depth of the grooves should be 3-4 cm.
- Pour plenty of water in rows. When it is absorbed into the ground, spread the seeds along the furrows, observing an interval of 10-15 cm between them.
- Mulch the grooves with humus or peat.
- In the case of nesting, arrange the holes in a checkerboard pattern, up to 5 seeds in each sowing.
- If the seeds are soaked before sowing, the seedlings appear on day 5, the dry seedlings emerge a few days later.
- To accelerate seedlings, water the bed and cover with non-woven material.
The radish can survive a cold snap and even slight frosts, and the seeds will germinate at a temperature of +3 - +5 degrees. The optimum air temperature for the successful growth of green radish is 18-20 degrees Celsius.
Care
In addition to a proper fit, an important factor is also the provision of suitable care. Despite the frost resistance of the culture, it is necessary to monitor the temperature, to avoid sharp drops.
Watering
Radish loves water - you need to water often and a lot, especially if the weather is hot and sunny. From a lack of water, root crops become coarser, less juicy, and with an uneven flow of water begin to crack.
First-term plants planted in early spring should be watered at least 2 times a week, and plants of summer planting should be watered 3-4 times a season. The norm of water is 10 liters per 1 sq. Km. m beds. After wetting, it is advisable to mulch the soil in order to reduce the amount of watering due to longer moisture retention.
Thinning
A necessary procedure due to the fact that several seeds are placed in the wells at once. Spend it in 3 stages:
- First time Thin out when several true leaflets appear on the seedlings. You need to remove the weakest plant.
- Second time -with the emergence of the beginnings of a future root crop. Remove all plants without green stain and foliage.
- Third time - when root crops reach a diameter of O, 5 cm. Remove the smallest and weakest so that only one plant in the hole is left.
Plants need to be gently nibbled off, not pulled out so as not to disturb the sprouts that must remain in the ground.
Loosening and hilling
It is necessary to soften the earthen lump so that air can freely flow to the roots. When the top of the root grows 1-2 cm above the surface of the earth, then it needs to be earthed out, otherwise this part will become coarser.
Radish does not tolerate the crust formed on the soil surface, so loosen the soil after rain - the procedure destroys the channels through which moisture is collected. Remember, loosening is “dry” watering.
The soil needs to be loosened in row-spacings and furrows, to a depth of 4-6 cm. With deeper loosening, the radish root system may be damaged, and weed seeds turn out of the deep soil layers closer to the surface.
Weeding and removing tops
Excess foliage and weeds prevent the fruits from developing fully and are the focus of the spread of diseases and pests. Excessive thickening causes the formation of flowering shoots.
Be sure to tear off all dry leaves, and if the tops create a dense shadow, then remove the healthy lower leaves as well. Weeds must be removed permanently, combining the procedure with loosening.
Top dressing
During the growing season, fertilizing should be done at least twice. If there is a need for any mineral during the period of fruit formation, then one more top dressing will be needed:
- Feed for the first time after the first thinning - fill the bed with wood ash - 1 tbsp. per 1 square. m
- The second time - during the ripening of fruits. Plants fertilize with nitrophos, diluting 30 g of the substance into a bucket of water.
If during ripening the leaves begin to turn pale, then you can feed the radish with a mullein solution or again sprinkle ash on the beds.
Major diseases and pests
For green radish, diseases and parasites that affect the cruciferous family are dangerous.
Diseases, pests | Symptoms | Methods of struggle |
Gray rot | A fungal disease that develops during storage. Symptoms - the formation of gray fluffy plaque on the fruits. | The use of preparations containing glyocladium (a mushroom that devours other mushrooms). |
Powdery mildew | It is characterized by a whitish-gray bloom, which leads to a lag of plants in growth. | Compliance with crop rotation rules, isolation of seedlings in space, processing with special preparations (Bordeaux fluid). |
Blackleg | Thin leaf outlet, mycelium appears. The top of the fetus and the lower part of the stem turn black, a white coating forms. | Thinning plants, soil change, the use of 1% Bordeaux fluid with sand bed after the procedure. |
Mosaic | Brown patterns gradually appear on the leaves. | There is no medicine, you need to burn the affected plants. |
Slug | Damage the tops and protruding parts of root crops | It is recommended to collect and destroy pests, as well as pour a thick layer of crushed eggshell or lime. |
Cabbage flies | They feed on nectar, larvae gnaw through delicate root crops, build moves, the radish begins to look oppressed, the tops wither. | Damaged root crops need to be dug up and burned, and the soil should be treated with an insecticide (Aktara, Karbofos). |
Black fleas | Scraping the skin from young leaves and stems, larvae eat up the roots. | Maintaining a moist environment, dry pollination of leaves (with a mixture of ash and tobacco dust in a ratio of 1: 1). Treatment with insecticide solutions (Decis, Sherpa). |
When and how to harvest?
Harvest time for green radish depends on the variety. It is important to note the number of days from sowing to ripening:
- Summer varieties need to be harvested in early June. Such root crops have a short shelf life.
- Autumn varieties are harvested until the end of summer.
- Winter radish needs to be collected before the first frost.
Ripening of root crops usually takes two to three months after planting. Early varieties begin to be harvested after 50-70 days, and mid-season and late varieties after about 75-100 days.
Clean in dry weather, morning or evening, until the sun is very active. If the soil is light, then the radish needs to be pulled out, holding the tops at the base, and on heavy soils use a shovel. The tops need to be cut, leaving only 2-3 cm.
Storage
Keep the harvest on the bed for several hours to dry. During this time, sort out the radish, taking the damaged root crops for use in food, and healthy, without cracks and cuts, lay in bulk in the basement or cellar.
You can store the crop in plastic bags with a slightly open neck. Sand containers are also suitable for storage. Storage temperature - + 1-2 degrees, and the level of humidity in the room or package should be 80%.
Storage on the balcony is possible if in winter the temperature there does not drop below 0 degrees. Vegetables should also be put in boxes and sprinkled with sand. In the refrigerator, radish should be put on a shelf for storing vegetables in bags with holes made.
Green radish is a culture that gardeners love and plant it in their plots because it practically does not require care. It is not difficult to plant the seeds of this root crop; moreover, they are distinguished by a high level of germination.
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