Alan Titchmarsh advises gardeners on watering their plants
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Radishes are a quick and easy vegetable to grow for seed, taking as little as just four weeks to be ready to eat. The delicious crop takes up almost no space, meaning it’s a great filler for your vegetable plot and can be grown even in the smallest of gardens. Once you’ve sown and grown your first batch, you can sew a few more every few weeks to keep your home in good supply all summer.
When to sow radishes
For an early crop, you can start to sow radishes in February – making now the perfect time to get stuck in.
Sow your radish seeds into pre-warmed soil, and protect your plant using cloches.
Summer cultivators should be sown from March and can carry on through to mid-August.
You can also get winter varieties, which should be sown in July and August.
READ MORE: When to cut back hydrangeas
How to sow radishes
When starting out, make sure you select a nice sunny spot for your radish plants – otherwise, if grown in too much shade they will put all their energy into growing leaves, not crops.
Make sure your soil is not compacted and is high in organic matter.
It’s best to plant radishes directly into the garden so you don’t damage their roots.
Sow them up to an inch deep in your non-compacted soil. Then water regularly and three to four weeks later, you may have your first crop!
You’ll know when your radishes are ready to harvest when they’re about one inch in diameter at the surface of the soil.
Start by pulling one and testing it, before removing the rest of your crop.
Make sure to harvest frequently as the radishes will deteriorate quickly after they mature.
Top tips to ensure you make the most out of your radish seeds include keeping the soil most, so you’ll need to water regularly.
You should also plant your summer cultivators 2.5cm or one inch apart, and your winter cultivators 15cm or five inches apart.
This aims to eliminate the need to thin later down the line.
Be sure to look out for some of the most common problems for growing radishes – includes slugs and snails, and flea battle – which can leave leaves covered in small holes.
To avoid flea beetle, grow plants under a horticultural fleece and kept the soil moist – ideally using a nitrogen risk fertiliser.
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