Radish
Radish belongs to the family of cabbage( cruciferous) plants. To this common family are all kinds of cabbage, and from the root vegetables - radish, radish, turnip, rutabaga.
What does radish like? Most of all, he likes light and moisture, as well as cool weather. At a long light-day, it quickly throws out the flower stem, forming a shallow, coarse, completely inedible root crop. Therefore, firstly, radish should be planted very early, since it is a cold-resistant plant and shoots appear at a temperature of 5-6 degrees Celsius in a week, and at 12-15 degrees of heat - on the 3-4th day. Secondly, radish should be covered with lightproof material at 7 pm.
What does not like radish? Fresh manure, large doses of mineral fertilizers, dense soil( clay, loam), acid soil, heat, drying of the upper soil layer, thickened plantings. In hot and dry weather, with thickened plantings, and also with a long light day, good root crops can not be obtained.
The choice of the
variety The earliest are varieties of French Breakfast type, with an elongated, pink-growing root crop with a white tip. This radish is good in that when overgrowing the flesh does not become "wadded" and the skin of the root does not coarsen. The Deca variety has a red round root crop, is interesting in that it practically does not shoot at a long light day. Variety Icy icicle has a long root crop of white color.
Interesting early hybrids with round red root crops - Rudolph F1, Poker F1, Reggae F1 because of their exceptional taste.
Varieties of Dawn, Heat, Korund, Rudin can be grown in any region. Recently, large-scale varieties and hybrids of the Great Giant, Autumn Giant, Duro, Aleshkin F1 are of great interest.
The most interesting of them is Duro variety, primarily because it has a soft, delicate taste, it does not become fleshy when ripe, and the peel remains tender. Often, outgrowing, the plant lays a second root crop, located below the first. The variety is sufficiently resistant to hot weather to the true light day, so I recommend growing it both in the North-West and in more southern regions. In addition, it is a variety, but because you can collect your seeds. To do this, it is enough to leave the strongest plant to grow. A flower-bud appears quickly, the plant blooms, then pods with seeds form on it. As soon as they begin to lighten, cut off the stem and spread the plant on paper in the room. With full maturation, the pods crack and the seeds scatter in all directions. Since Duro's root crop reaches 10-12 cm in diameter, then plant it at once sparse according to the 10 x 10 cm pattern.
If it is a pity to leave a whole root crop on the seed, you can cut off the upper third and plant it along with the leaves, and the lower partroot vegetables to eat.
Features of growing
The whole family of cabbage plants is prone to the disease of the whale, in which ugly growths form on the roots. The keel can exist only in acidic medium, so the soil before sowing cabbage must be strongly deoxidized, so that the soil reaction pH is higher than 6, that is, for the cultivation of cabbage plants slightly alkalized soil is required. In the Northwest, the soil is constantly acidified by the backwater of acidic groundwater, and also due to acid rain, so planting these crops must be constantly, approximately every 2 weeks, watered with a solution of lime milk( a glass of lime for 10 liters of water stir and pour out the rooteach plant: no less than a glass - for root crops and at least 0.5 liters - cans for cabbage).
Naturally, it is not recommended to sow these crops after each other.
To sow radish it is necessary at once sparingly, under the scheme 4x4 or 5 х 5 cm - for usual grades and 10 х 10 cm - for radishes-giants. If the crops are too thick, arrange radish. He, like all round root crops, easily tolerates transplantation at the age of 2-3 present sheets.
Radish grows quickly, so it should be sown in 2-3 terms, after about 10 days, as the overgrown root coarsens or becomes "wadded."Radish crops are made as soon as possible, as soon as snow falls. In the Northwest radish can be sown in early April.
The early radish on the compost pile grows particularly well. Pour a pile of hot water, sprinkle 2-3 cm of fertile soil and sow radish. It has large seeds, it is easy to decompose into grooves 2 cm deep, then sprinkle with soil and compact with a board. Immediately cover the crops with a film. As soon as the shoots appear, remove the film, and cover the plants with lutrasil.
Radish can be sown in greenhouses before planting seedlings of tomatoes and peppers. You will have time to eat it before they need a place. Usually, radish is ready in 30-35 days after emergence, but there are also fast-growing varieties( 20-25 days).Radish for 16 days - it's just advertising and nothing more. Radish needs a short light day, otherwise it will go into the arrow. Therefore, cover the crops with a dark cloth at 6-7 pm. Summer radish crops in the Northwest can be started from the first days of July, when the white nights end.
Radish, unlike beets, rutabaga, celery, "eats" very little, so in any case, do not overfeed, especially nitrogen, because it will all go to the tops, not forming a good root. Do not give a radish of phosphoric fertilizing - it will go into color. Agronorm at a radish only 8, that is for all period of growth and development it takes out from each square meter of soil of only 8 g of mineral fertilizers in total.(For comparison: beet - 52, and tomato - 58.) From its balance of 38: 12: 50 it can be seen that the radish belongs to the potassium-lovers. It can generally not be fed at all, if you sow ash in the furrows( glass per meter), or in the stage of the 2-3 leaves give just one additional fertilizer by any potassium fertilizer( like all cabbage crops, radish is resistant to chlorine).
Radish, along with cabbage, is the most moisture-loving culture. It is watered every 3 days and every day in dry weather, and abundantly( at least 10 liters per meter of landings).Irrigation should be done only in the evening, then for a night the moisture will soak the soil to a sufficient depth.
Radish is poorly stored, its root quickly loses its elasticity and fades. Radish is not frozen, dried, not salted, canned or cooked. It is used only in fresh form, mainly in salads.
The leaves and root vegetables of radish are rich in carotene. In addition, radish - a supplier of calcium in our body, so it is useful for children and the elderly. It is a dietary product that is easily digested. Radish contains mineral salts, vitamin C, organic acids, necessary for our body, has bactericidal properties. Contraindications for its use, no, except that you have inflammation of the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines.
Diseases and problems
There are practically no diseases in radish. Of pests in the early stages of development, a cruciferous flea can attack radishes( it appears when the soil warms up to 8 degrees Celsius).Bloch devours young leaves "under the root".Avoid her attacks can be early crops. Shelter with lutrasil does not help, because the flea winters on the beds everywhere in the upper layer of the soil. Any recommendations( dusting with ashes, dust, including tobacco) are ineffective. The only so far effective tool is the spraying of shoots with a shampoo "Bim" solution for washing dogs against fleas( 3 tablespoons per 10 liters of water).Sometimes it is recommended to use a rather strong tool "Tokar".It consists of tobacco dust and carbide. I think that it is unacceptable to use it in your garden, as carbide and tobacco products are considered to be one of the most harmful. Why should we poison our loved ones?
A spring fly attacking the root crop may attack the crops in mid-May. Against her shelter lutrasilom - a measure is quite effective.
Quite often, the radish, without tying root, goes into the arrow or forms small, coarse root crops. The reason may be late planting time, when the weather is hot( above 22 degrees), and in the Northwest, in addition, - a long light day during the white nights.
Another reason is the lack of moisture in the initial period of growth in the upper layer of the soil, where the sucking hairs are located. Often this happens not only in sunny, dry, but also in windy weather, even if it is overcast.
Radish can give arrows if in the initial growth period within one or two weeks is hot or, conversely, too cold( about 8 degrees) weather.
The cause of the formation of "wooden" roots may be too dense soil or crust, formed after the rains. In this case, the planting of radish should be regularly loosen.
Irradiation of a radish can be caused by insufficient watering or by applying excessive doses of nitrogen or phosphorus.
Radish leaves in the arrow and with a strong thickening of crops, if thinning was not done in a timely manner.