Daikon radishes?

littlesapphire 1/31/2012, 8:42 pm

Does anyone know anything about daikon radishes (sometimes know as white or Chinese radishes)? As far as I can tell, not many people grow them because I can't find a lot of information on how they should be planted. I have two varieties that I would like to grow this year. April Cross Hybrid (a long type) and Watermelon (a round type). I know you can plant the long type in the spring, but I don't know how early they should be planted. The round type are sensitive to heat, so you're supposed to plant them in the late summer, but I'm not sure when that is exactly? Lol, I'm really lost. Does anyone know anything about them, or at least know where I can find out?

wncsohn 1/31/2012, 11:02 pm

Well, I don't know anything about those radish's ... however, I did a quick Bing search and came up with this for the Watermelon Radish ...

http://www.ehow.com/how_8183076_grow-watermelon-radishes.html

According to the ehow article they aren't really heat sensitive and can be planted all through spring into summer ... not sure how accurate it is but ... Daikon radishes? 601593

eta .. did a search on the April Cross and came up with the Park Seed page which indicates that they are winter radish's .. possible confusion between the two?

Daikon, or Asian radishes, are root crops harvested in fall. Much longer-lasting than spring radishes, they can easily be stored over winter. If they are planted too early, they may flower instead of developing their vegetable root--they need colder weather and shorter days.

http://parkseed.com/radish-april-cross-hybrid/p/05653-PK-P1/

Not sure that this helps any, lol

I would say "winter radish's" that should be planted in late summer would be when it begins to cool off a bit in your area?

Fireopal36 2/1/2012, 12:32 am

I would also just make sure your garden is "deep" enough!!
From the daikon radishes I've seen at my local grocery store (we live in a predominately Vietnamese city, so all the local stores have crazy asian veggies I've never seen/tried before!) they get quite long, longer than carrots.
An article on ehow (I can't post links yet as I'm still a newbie) suggests the container being at least two feet deep (at least for your long ones, don't know anything about round type).

CapeCoddess 3/11/2013, 5:37 pm

Has anyone grown these yet? How many per square and when are seeds planted outside?

CC

happycamper 3/11/2013, 5:56 pm

I plant 5 per square just like a five on dice. My only suggestion is that you use a "top hat" or have a very deep bed because they are very long.

**llama momma** 3/11/2013, 6:06 pm

I've got Japanese Minowase Daikon - just for fun. Never grew this before but the packet says it can grow 2 ft long and 3" wide. I'm going to try it in my 1 ft tall box and build it up higher then plant either 6 or 9 to a square and see what happens. I shake my head when I make impulse seed purchases like this, I don't even like radishes. I think it was the "sweet and crisp" description that caught my eye. I've only had radishes that were spicy. Anyway, darn that Bakers Creek Laughing

and good luck everyone.

CapeCoddess 3/11/2013, 6:07 pm

Thanks, happycamper. I read online that they take 2 mths to mature and the suggestion is to plant end of summer as they like to grow in cool months. But I have about 3 months of cool weather starting now. Have you ever planted end of winter?

CC

happycamper 3/11/2013, 7:15 pm

Capecoddess, I planted in late April last year but should have planted earlier than I did. Two of them went to seed. They grew to nearly 3 1/2 feet tall and produced alot of seed.

CapeCoddess 3/11/2013, 8:04 pm

wow! Sounds like they are huge! I think I'll only plant 5 = 1 sq. And I'll plant them this week.

Thanks for sharing your experience, happycamper.
Good luck, llama momma.

CC

CapeCoddess 6/3/2013, 12:01 pm

I thought I got my daikon seeds planted early enough but apparently I need to plant in fall in my area, not spring. The plants grew to about 2 feet then made pretty purple flowers so I pulled them up and got these: Daikon radishes? Photo110

They aren't even pencil thick. I tried eating the tops but they are woody. They will definitely be long though. Anyway, back to the drawing board.

Did anyone else have any luck with spring planting?

CC

yolos 6/3/2013, 2:12 pm

I bought these one year to use in my old row garden. They are supposed to go deep and help break up the soil fairly deep. After they mature, leave them in the ground, they will rot and you will have broken up the soil so water, nutrients and roots can grow. I never planted them so I don't know if that works. And they are not needed in an SFG if you are subscribing to the theory that 6 inches is all you need.

Has anyone tasted them.

boffer 6/3/2013, 2:29 pm

yolos wrote:...Has anyone tasted them.

I don't grow them, but I buy organic ones sometimes. They don't have the bite of a radish, but I like the crunch that they add to stir frys and salads. To me, the flavor is nondescript, but I don't have a discriminating palate.

**llama momma** 6/3/2013, 7:41 pm

I decided to plant for a Fall/Winter harvest. For Japanese Minowase Daikon the packet said to plant 45 days or more before first fall frost.
For central Ohio I'm going to plant around August 20th. This variety says it gets 5.85 ft. tall with 2 ft. roots. We shall see.

grownsunshine 6/6/2013, 11:28 am

I just bought 4 packets of seeds with the hope of pickling them. I heard they grow like carrots, but it sounds like I may be jumping the gun hoping to plant them in June here in So Cal. Sounds like I may want to wait a few months. Has anyone had success?

CapeCoddess 6/25/2013, 3:01 pm

Since my spring seeded daikons bolted before a radish was formed, I decided to leave a few plants and let them go to flower & seed and eat the pods like you can do with regular radishes. I tried a small one and it was crispy like a sugar pea pod but pretty hot. Shocked

So I'm waiting til they are bigger and maybe a smidge milder. The beautiful flowers are actually purple mixed with white but you can't tell that in this photo:
Daikon radishes? June_215

I have a batch of regular radish flowers going to pod also. They are a pretty white.
Daikon radishes? June_214

CC

littlejo 6/25/2013, 7:14 pm

CC, what, if anything, do you do to the radish pods to make them edible?
Jo

Motto 6/25/2013, 8:38 pm

Daikon grows well in well-drained soil, like volcanic ash. The size varies depending on kind, and some glows well over a foot (length).

It's not suitable to pots if you want to make it edible.

Motto

grownsunshine 6/27/2013, 11:57 am

Hi Motto,

Why do you think Daikon won't grow in pots? My sfg is is too shallow, so I'm thinking of either building a couple of 2X2X2 sf pots and/or cut a 55gal plastic barrel in half (17 inches deep) and use those to grow the Daikon. I was thinking these pots would be plenty big enough and the idea is to pull the Daikon when their about 1.5 inch round/1 foot long. The pickled Daikon in the store is about 1.5 inch round. Is it a drainage issue? Maybe if I put lots of holes in the bottom of the pots I should get decent drainage.

CapeCoddess 6/27/2013, 12:21 pm

littlejo wrote:CC, what, if anything, do you do to the radish pods to make them edible?
Jo

I just eat them off the plant, just like I do with pea pods. YUM! Razz

CC

Motto 6/27/2013, 1:52 pm

Hi,

I did not say Daikon won't grow in a pot. I just thought the space may be a bit too tight. But, your bigger pot may be OK. Also, the size depends on kind of Daikon.

Just FYI, the closer to the neck, the better it taste.

CapeCoddess 11/23/2013, 2:04 pm

I think the fall planted daikon did really well here. I pulled an 8" one and have been slowly eating off it for 2 weeks or so. It is hotter than blazes! Twisted Evil

So I decided I'd better leave the others planted to see if the cooler weather might cool it down a bit.

But we're getting some freezing weather here tonight and I don't want to miss the harvest window. Once the MM freezes it difficult to harvest.

Soooo...I'm wondering if anyone has experienced a cooling off affect of leaving them in the ground late? And if anyone has stored them and how? I'm thinking steaming & freezing but I don't want to ruin them.

CC

southern gardener 11/23/2013, 4:39 pm

I don't know if I've ever eaten a Daikon, are they similar to horse radish? I REALLY want to grow horse radish, but can't find the roots at a good price. I found some online, but it was almost $18 per root by the time shipping was calculated!! not gonna happen Sad

CapeCoddess 11/24/2013, 3:14 pm

Nah, SG...they are not like horse radish. They are like regular radishes. Smile

I pulled one yesterday and can tell you all that cooler weather has no bearing on the calming down heat of the daikon! Wow! Razz

CC

Applegate 11/25/2013, 10:01 pm

My daikons are not hot at all? We have had some nights in the mid 20's and they are wilted in the morning by perk up when the sun hits them.

Applegate 11/25/2013, 10:02 pm

SG, if you ever do plant horseradish, do not put it in your beds, it is envasive in a BIG way. I have been trying to get rid of it for a year.

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