Contents
Daikon radish is a vegetable crop bred by Japanese breeders from common radish. In Japan, it has long been used as a staple food, and is included in the daily diet of every inhabitant. We have long white root crops, although they are sold everywhere, but their cultivation in the ground is not as popular as in the countries of the East. And the difficulty lies in the fact that it is not always possible to calculate when to plant the Daikon, so that the root crops have time to ripen, and the plant does not let the arrow go. The timing of planting a crop, and how to grow an exotic vegetable in our latitudes will be discussed in the article.
Terms of planting
Correctly chosen planting dates are an indispensable condition for the successful cultivation of daikon. If these recommendations are neglected, the harvest may be disappointing, and time will be wasted. And it’s not the capriciousness of the culture – on the contrary, the daikon is very unpretentious to growing conditions, it’s just that its biological features are such that it needs coolness and a short daylight hours to form root crops.
Daikon, like all types of radishes or radishes, grows best in cool soil. Its seeds are able to sprout when the earth warms up to 3-5 ° C, and 10-12 hours of daylight is enough for normal vegetation. In addition, plants perfectly tolerate short-term frosts, and at the same time continue to form a root crop, while they react in the opposite way to a sharp increase in temperature – they begin to build up the ground part and release an arrow. Flowering is also facilitated by a constant increase in daylight hours and air temperature in spring, so it is almost impossible to grow a good crop in the spring-summer season.
Since it is artificially very problematic to create favorable conditions for the growth of root crops, it remains only to choose the right time for planting the daikon to be most successful. In our latitudes, it is recommended to plant crop seeds from the second half of summer, when daylight hours begin to decrease. However, at this time the soil is still quite warm, so in regions with hot summers, it is better to move the planting time to the beginning of August.
To grow a good daikon, planting dates should be selected in accordance with varietal characteristics. Summer planting is more suitable for varieties of medium and late ripening. For early varieties that ripen 40-60 days after sowing seeds, planting in July will be premature, as the plants will immediately go into the arrow, bypassing the phase of root formation. Early daikon is best sown in autumn or early spring. Spring is preferable, since early root crops do not differ in long-term storage, and it makes no sense to grow them in autumn for winter consumption.
Video “When and how to plant a daikon”
This video will tell you how and when to plant and grow daikon.
Spring landing
Sowing daikon in the spring should be done as early as possible, in late March – early April. There is no need to fear that the seeds will freeze. The culture has a high cold resistance, so it is allowed to sow immediately after the snow melts. To protect the soil from re-freezing, the bed is covered with a film at night, and during the day the shelter is removed until the threat of spring frosts has passed. If the seeds are planted in early April, then by the end of May the harvest of early root crops will already ripen.
I would like to remind you that only daikon of early varieties with a short growing season can be sown in the spring. It makes no sense to plant mid-season and late varieties with a growing season of 70-100 days, because at high temperatures and long daylight hours, root crops simply cannot form. Also, spring sowing should not be delayed until late April or May, unless the plants are grown for seed.
Daikon seeds are best planted at the end of May, then by the end of August – September, the seed pods will fully ripen. For good flowering, plants should be planted in a sunny area, since Japanese radish planting and care, as well as the timing of planting which affect the formation of flower stalks, will shoot faster in warm, sun-warmed soil. Some gardeners use ready-made roots from the previous harvest to obtain seeds, because radish is a two-year-old crop. They are planted in the same way as carrots or beets: the tops are cut off, leaving small (5-7 cm) cuttings, and the root crop is buried in the ground at a slight slope. With this method, the seeds are ready for harvest much earlier.
The site for the spring planting of daikon has been prepared since autumn. It is desirable that the bed is well lit by the sun for at least half a day and is protected from the winds. Daikon is quite unpretentious to the composition of the soil, but it grows better on light sandy or loamy soil, and the root crops reach a larger size. It is very important that the soil is not acidic, otherwise you can not count on the harvest.
Site preparation consists of digging the soil and fertilizing. Ideally, if the soil in your area is loose and rich in humus, but if this is not the case, then its fertility should be increased – when digging, apply mineral and organic fertilizers. Of the mineral mixtures for daikon, superphosphate (40-50 g / m²), potassium salt (20 g / m²) are suitable. From organic matter, the culture perceives well humus or compost (0,5-1 buckets / m²), as well as ash 2-3 cups / m². If the soil is acidic, it must be limed.
Daikon is planted according to the scheme, which may differ depending on the variety. For plants with large or round roots, as well as those that develop voluminous tops, it is recommended to plant at a distance of 30 cm between holes and 50-60 cm between rows. For long root crops, planting at a distance of 20 cm and 40 cm between rows is acceptable. For daikon, planting seeds in open ground is most acceptable, but it can also be grown in seedlings.
summer planting
In central Our Country, the second half of July and August is considered the most favorable period for sowing daikon. At this time, the length of the day is steadily reduced, and the soil cools to the desired temperature at night, which contributes to the creation of favorable conditions for growing root crops. In August – September, the probability of releasing arrows is reduced to a minimum, and root crops begin to develop more rapidly.
As already mentioned, summer is suitable for planting mid-season and late varieties, and it is better to sow late varieties at the end of July, and with an average ripening period – in August. Late daikon, planted in the second half of summer, will ripen at the end of October. At this time, night frosts are already possible, but they are not terrible for the daikon, since the root crop can remain in the ground even at a temperature of -5 ° C without losing its taste and useful qualities.
If plants are grown for the purpose of obtaining greenery (used in cooking), then planting dates are not so important – it can be August, or even June. However, you need to understand that it will not be possible to get root crops from planting in June – such plants, in any case, regardless of the variety, will release an arrow. In order for the summer sowing of daikon to give a high yield, one should not rush with planting dates – it is better to sow the seeds later than too early.
Autumn landing
In the southern regions, where summer is long and autumn is warm, daikon can be sown in early autumn. Mid-season varieties with a ripening period of 65-70 days will have time to form a root crop before the onset of frost, besides, late planting allows you to keep vegetables longer. Late-ripening varieties should not be planted in autumn, but it all depends on the climate of a particular region.
A bed for autumn planting is prepared in the spring. The site is dug up and fertilized in the same way as during spring digging. However, if you use a fertile bed after growing other vegetables, then you should not apply fertilizer – just dig deep (30-35 cm) enough. Autumn planting is convenient because it is possible to use already vacated areas for a garden bed, thus obtaining a double crop. By the way, in the east, this is how daikon is grown – as a secondary crop.
Some vegetable growers practice winter sowing of daikon, which is also carried out in the fall, but just before frost. Planting for the winter is carried out according to the same scheme as usual, with the only difference being that after sowing, the bed is covered with organic mulch (peat, humus, dry foliage), which will warm the seeds in the most severe frosts. Podzimnaya planting seeds allows you to get an earlier and higher harvest in the spring.
Planting time for seedlings
The seedling method of planting daikon allows you to grow root crops a month earlier than usual, which is very important for the southern climate, where spring comes early and suddenly. In greenhouses, or in pots, seeds for seedlings can be sown in early March. In about a month they will get stronger, and if the weather allows, the plants can be transplanted into open ground. By this time, they already have several true leaves, while the seeds are just planted in the soil.
It is desirable to grow seedlings in disposable containers with peat soil mixture. Young sprouts are quite sensitive to transplantation, so they need to be removed from the pot and transplanted into the garden along with an earthen substrate. It is also necessary to take into account that the seedling method is acceptable for varieties with round root crops, but the long daikon does not tolerate transplantation, and even more so picking.
The process of growing seedlings takes about a month: seedlings appear after 3-5 days, thinning is carried out after 2 weeks, and another 2 weeks are allotted for growing leaves and hardening – during the last 2 weeks, the plants are taken out for a couple of hours in order to adapt to external environment. During the whole time, seedlings need to be looked after: water from time to time, loosen the soil, make sure that the sprouts do not stretch out. Seedlings are planted in open ground when the average daily air temperature is set at 10 ° C. At a lower degree, the bed at night must be covered with a film, and during the day the shelter must be removed.
Video “Agrotechnology for growing daikon”
Experienced gardeners in this video will show how to approach the cultivation of this vegetable.
