Vegetables · annual

Radish from seed

Raphanus sativus

Germination temperature: 65 to 85°F (18 to 29°C)
Minimum soil temperature: 40°F (4°C)
Sowing depth: ½ in (12 mm)
Days to germinate: 3 to 10 days
Light: Cover the seed; darkness helps
Before sowing: Nothing needed
Sow outdoors: 4 to 0 weeks before the last frost
Spacing: 2 to 3 in (5 to 8 cm)

Your dates from your last frost Seed not coming up?

Sowing

Sow direct from early spring to early summer and again in autumn; ready in about 30 days. Sow a short row every week or two.

Care and transplanting

Keep evenly moist or roots turn woody and split. Thin early so roots have room.

Problems

Plants that make leaves but no root are crowded, shaded or too hot. Heat and drought make radishes pungent and bolt them. Flea beetles pepper young leaves; row cover stops them.

Saving seed

Let a few plants bolt and set pods; harvest when pods are dry. Radishes cross-pollinate by insects.