Radish violet "Diana"

* Growing radishes in open ground.
For sowing radishes, choose areas that come out of the snow early, are protected from cold winds, and have light, very fertile soil.
The best predecessors are potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and beans.
It is not recommended to sow radishes after cabbage, turnips and radishes, as they are affected by the same diseases and pests.
Root crops grow well in soils with varying acidity (pH 5.5-7.3), so liming is carried out only on very acidic soils.
Organic fertilizers (4-5 kg/m2) are applied to the previous crop. If this fails, then rotted manure or humus (3-4 kg/m2) is added in the fall. On fertile soils, radishes can be grown without organic fertilizers. In the fall, 6-9 g/m2 of phosphorus (13-20 g of double superphosphate) and 10-12 g/m2 of potassium (16-20 g of potassium chloride) are added. Nitrogen fertilizers (12-18 g of ammonium nitrate) are used in a dose of 4-6 g/m2 when leveling the soil in the spring.
Attention! Radishes are prone to increased accumulation of nitrates, so nitrogen doses should not exceed 6 g per 1 m2.
You cannot add fresh manure to sowing radishes, as this will lead to excessive growth of leaves to the detriment of root crops.
Choose an open, sunny place for sowing early radishes, but for June or July sowing, when the days are long, it is better to sow radishes in slightly shaded areas.
Radishes love fertile, well-drained soil.
The site has been dug up since the fall. Before sowing, add 5-6 buckets of compost per 1 square meter. m and complete mineral fertilizer. To disinfect the soil, increase phosphorus, potassium and other microelements in it, as well as to accelerate the melting of snow, ash mixed with potassium permanganate is scattered over the surface in March (1 bucket of ash + 5 g of potassium permanganate per 20 sq. m). This will speed up the melting of the snow by more than a week.
A bed for radishes in open ground is made in early spring. The soil is watered with hot (+50°C) water and dug to the depth of a bayonet shovel. Then add 2-3 kg of humus or compost and peat. From mineral fertilizers, add a tablespoon of nitrophoska or other complete fertilizer. After adding nutrients, the bed is dug up with a pitchfork to a depth of 10-12 cm, leveled and slightly compacted.
Wood ash and potash fertilizers are not applied to radish sowing to avoid bolting.
The width of the beds is made up to 1.5 m, the length - no more than 15 m. The beds can also be paired, but then a distance of 50 cm must be left between them. The beds should be located taking into account the prevailing direction of the winds.
The furrows are made at a distance of 10-12 cm from each other, 2-2.5 cm deep, watered with warm (+30+35°C) water and sowing begins.
Radishes are short-day plants, so they are sown early - from April 16 to 18 and from April 26 to 28, as well as from May 10 to 12 and from May 22 to 25. Late varieties of radish (for winter storage) are sown from August 1 to August 10.
Radishes are sown in early spring in areas intended for planting late cabbage, or as a compactor for cabbage and cucumbers. Later, areas vacated by early potatoes are occupied by it. Therefore, it is not necessary to specially prepare beds for radishes.
Radishes are sown as soon as soil conditions allow for cultivation (that is, when the soil has thawed to a depth of 3-4 cm). In the middle zone this happens around April 15-20. Sow the seeds in a nest or row method at a distance of 5 cm. Radish seeds will germinate faster if the ground is mulched with peat and humus.
Sow radishes at intervals of 10-12 days. The most accurate indicator for subsequent sowing is the appearance of the first true leaf on plants from the previous sowing. Furrows are made in the beds at a distance of 10-15 cm. The seeds are placed at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other. Plant to a depth of 1.5-2 cm. The seeding rate is 1.5-2 g per 1 square meter. m.
For autumn use, radishes are sown no later than the end of July - beginning of August. The seed sowing rate is reduced to 0.8 g per 1 square meter. m, they are sown less frequently (distance in rows is 5-6 cm). However, keep in mind that winter sowing often leads to bolting of plants.
Care, watering and fertilizing.
Radish is a moisture-loving crop. Unlike other vegetable crops, it has a shallow root system, so it needs a sufficient amount of moisture throughout the growing season. With its deficiency, root crops lengthen, become flabby, and have an unpleasant taste.
This culture is also demanding on lighting. If the tops grow in the shade, the root crop will be of poor quality. Radish produces its best root crop when the day is 10-12 hours long. If daylight hours are longer, the root crop develops faster, which, alas, promotes bolting. (By the way, the same thing happens in dry and hot weather.)
Water the crops evenly every 2-3 days, in dry weather - daily (at night). In the first 10 days after germination, it is enough to soak the soil by 8 cm, and with the beginning of the formation of the root crop - by no less than 15 cm.
In the summer months, plants are watered in the morning and evening, in small doses (2-3 l/m2). When filling root crops, watering is reduced to moderate, otherwise only one top will grow.
If a crust has formed after watering, the soil must be loosened or covered with a layer (1-2 cm) of humus. Weed weeds systematically. With slow growth and light-colored leaves, plants need to be fed with garden mixture (40 g per 10 liters of water). Feeding with fermented infusion of grass is also considered good.
You can do the following fertilizing: dilute a teaspoon of urea or crystallin in 10 liters of water, stir the solution and water the bed at the rate of 3-4 liters per 1 square meter. m.
The beds are kept under the film until the plants have leaves 6-8 cm high. Then the film can be removed.
Radish shoots appear quickly. 5-6 days after the emergence of seedlings, they are thinned out, removing weak and deformed plants, leaving only beautiful ones, at a distance of 4-5 cm from each other. Then the radishes are watered from a small watering can using the sprinkling method at the rate of 2 liters per 1 square meter. m. After some time, when the bed becomes weathered, they do a little loosening between the rows and hill up the plants to the cotyledon leaves.
To combat cruciferous flea beetles, before loosening, as well as before hilling, dry mustard or ground black and red pepper are sprinkled between the rows (at the rate of a teaspoon per 1 sq. m).
Pollination of seedlings with tobacco dust mixed with lime or ash (1:1) helps against cruciferous flea beetle.
Keeping in mind the beneficial proximity of spinach (its seedlings are not damaged by pests), you can sow 1-2 rows of spinach in a bed with radishes.
Thus, caring for radishes consists of watering, timely weeding, thinning (by 5-6 cm), loosening after each watering and rain, fertilizing, flea control (multiple pollination with wood ash or dust).
Harvesting and storage.
The radish harvest, depending on the variety, is ready 25-45 days after sowing. At the same time, ripened radishes in the garden retain high quality root crops only for a few days. As soon as the root vegetables are ready for harvesting, they must be immediately collected, washed, put in a plastic bag and put in the refrigerator. If radishes are left in the garden, they will quickly lose quality - the root crops will become coarse, and the plant will go to waste.
First, harvesting is carried out selectively as the root crops ripen, and only then - completely.
Ripe root vegetables are dug up, freed from tops and placed in plastic bags (no more than 2 kg).
Attention! There is no need to trim the roots of the radish, but the tops are cut 1.5-2 cm from the root crop.
You can store radishes in another way. The collected radishes with tops are tied into bundles, the tops are lightly moistened, placed in 1-3 kg plastic bags, tied tightly and stored in the refrigerator or in a cool place with a temperature of +2+3°C.
A repeat harvest of high-quality radishes can be obtained in the second half of October. To do this, you need to sow in early August. The autumn harvest of radishes is stored in dry sand at 0+1°C.