radish not forming bulbs-any ideas

dondonrh1 Mon Jun 02, 2014 2:04 pm

plants look good but radish are not forming-any ideas?

**walshevak** Mon Jun 02, 2014 5:53 pm

Someone on the forum recommended bone meal for root crops. Can't remember why but I know it is recommended for flower bulbs. Anyway I put some on my garlic because they had been in the ground so long I thought they might need a boost. The radishes next to the garlic must have gotten some benefit as they bulbed up quite nicely.

Also look research on how heat affects radishes. Anybody have any idea?

Kay

NAR56 Mon Jun 02, 2014 5:56 pm

I have the same problem with my radishes that I planted with my Tomatoes. Nice tall tops and skinny (no bulb) roots. I will try the bone meal and see what happens.

plantoid Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:07 pm

Snap so do I .
I think it is down to it being too wet and too warm , followed by a cold wet spell

jmsieglaff Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:24 pm

Two thoughts: 1) they are planted too densely. If you sowed more than 1 seed in a spot and do not thin, they are not likely to bulb up. Also I actually plant mine at 9/sq instead of 16/sq, I find they grow to much more preferable size--about between quarter to golf ball sized. 2) excessive nitrogen. If you are just using compost I doubt that's it, but if you're also adding a high N ratio fertilizer that may be the culprit.

**camprn** Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:34 pm

+1 too much nitrogen. Or...
Low on potassium.
Possibly planting too deeply.
Possibly to hot or too wet.
Possibly a longer growing variety.
Planted too close together (need thinning).
etc...

boffer Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:49 pm

Or the phase of the moon,
or the direction of the wind,
or the length of my hair! Rolling Eyes

I can plant a square today that will grow just fine. And I can plant the square right next to it tomorrow with seeds from the same package, and they'll be duds. I've given up asking why.

If my rads don't bulb up in 30 days, I pull them and re-plant.

yolos Tue Jun 03, 2014 12:08 am

NAR56 wrote:I have the same problem with my radishes that I planted with my Tomatoes. Nice tall tops and skinny (no bulb) roots. I will try the bone meal and see what happens.

Radishes are a cool weather crop. In the south they won't do well in the summer. The following article gave some help in getting radishes to grow properly. Some suggestions are:
Cool weather
at leas 6 hrs of sun or they grow only tops and no bottoms
If you plant shallowly (1/2 inch) this results in small roots.
If you plant deeper (1-1/2 inch) this results in larger bottoms.

Here is the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/02/style/cuttings-radishes-easy-to-sprout-hard-to-grow-right.html

plantoid Tue Jun 03, 2014 4:35 am

boffer wrote:Or the phase of the moon,
or the direction of the wind,
or the length of my hair!

I can plant a square today that will grow just fine. And I can plant the square right next to it tomorrow with seeds from the same package, and they'll be duds. I've given up asking why.

If my rads don't bulb up in 30 days, I pull them and re-plant.

quiltbea Tue Jun 03, 2014 11:08 am

I live in Maine, undoubtedly a cooler region, and I sow my seeds early and then cover with about a quarter inch of soil only. I have no trouble growing rads. Then I keep them moist be watering the bed every day.
Maybe its the heat preventing the forming.

boffer Tue Jun 03, 2014 12:44 pm

Every year this question comes up, and every year I google it. I get a big kick out of all the conflicting answers. Too hot, too cold. Too deep, too shallow. Too wet, too dry. Too much N, not enough N. Too crowded, too sparse. And on and on. I don't recall seeing a question about a veggie problem with such a diverse range of answers, and nothing that even comes close to being definitive.

With that in mind, I'll add my 2¢ to the mix. Wink

One of my experiments this year was to see what effect extra N had on lettuce growth during colder weather. I planted 4 different types of lettuce, and 2 different types of radishes. The left and right tubs were planted identically.

One tub was watered from the hose. The other tub, after germination, was watered only with fish emulsion (5-1-1) mixed at the recommended rate.

radish not forming bulbs-any ideas Dscn4110

radish not forming bulbs-any ideas Dscn4110

I harvested all 4 radish squares at once. They all bulbed, and there was no difference in growth between the rads in plain MM and those that got extra N.

quiltbea Tue Jun 03, 2014 2:37 pm

Sometimes its the seed. Did you store it in a cool place in an airtight container or baggie, like your fridge?

**sanderson** Tue Jun 03, 2014 2:59 pm

quiltbea wrote:Sometimes its the seed. Did you store it in a cool place in an airtight container or baggie, like your fridge?

Boffer, Your next experiment Very Happy

boffer Tue Jun 03, 2014 3:27 pm

sanderson wrote:
quiltbea wrote:Sometimes its the seed. Did you store it in a cool place in an airtight container or baggie, like your fridge?
Boffer, Your next experiment

Ha! I'll leave that one for somebody else. I go through seeds too fast to worry about storage methods.

quiltbea Tue Jun 03, 2014 4:23 pm

I know too much heat will hurt seed. One year our community garden bought lots of seed for everyone and kept it in an uncooled shed in the field for members to take what they wanted when they wanted thru the spring and early summer.
The germination rate on those was so low, it was unbelievable. Bought from a very reliable provider I myself used for years without problems. So too hot and seed will be damaged and not germinate.
So keep them cool.

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