How to successfully grow radishes in your mini greenhouse

Growing radishes couldn’t be easier in your Harvst mini greenhouse at any time of the year.  They are delicious root veg and come in a huge number of varieties.  The simplest is a Breakfast type and we include these with your greenhouse order to get you growing.  This is a quick guide to get you going.

Radishes are a part of the Brassicaceae family, the same family that give us mustard and cabbages.  They are fantastic in salads, on their own and can be made into simple relishes.  This Jamie Oliver recipe for radish relish is really quick and easy as well as delicious with hot dogs and hamburgers or added to omelets or frittatas. Growing them is dead easy.

Sowing your radishes.

These are sown directly meaning that where you sow them is where you will crop them from.  Normally ‘root veg’ like carrots, fennel and parsnips need loads of depth of soil to grow in but radishes need only a couple of inches.  Make up a deep seed tray with fresh compost and then sow your radishes at about 1 inch apart in any direction. Cover them with a sprinkle of compost, just enough to cover the seeds. Lightly water and then pop in your Harvst mini greenhouse.  They will need to be kept damp but not waterlogged.  Now is a good time to pop in a label and then add them to your grow diary on the Harvst app. If you set your reminder you can get a succession of these growing throughout the year

Thinning the radishes to get the best harvest

After a few days, you will begin to see them sprout.  Radishes can take as few as three days and up to ten days to show their heads.  At that point, you will need to thin them a bit to around 1.5 to 2 inches apart.  If you don’t thin, the roots become stunted and don’t grow into lovely round radishes for your plate.  Thinning means just pulling out the plants that you don’t want. You should end up with between 20-30 radishes in a standard, deep seed tray.  Don’t forget to update the app too to keep track.

Then just water frequently and let these plants grow.  They should be ready to harvest in around 4-6 weeks.  Pull them out, trim the roots and cut off the green tops, wash them and enjoy.