Daikon (Raphanus sativus) is a snow-white and tasty root vegetable from the Cruciferous family. In addition to this name, it has several more: Japanese radish, Japanese daikon, Chinese radish, white radish. Gardeners love this vegetable because it is unpretentious in care, has a high yield and bright taste. This article will explain in more detail how to plant, grow and care for a daikon outdoors.
Description of daikon radish
Daikon can be either one year old or two year old. Daikon's roots are large, sometimes their weight reaches more than four kilograms. Fruits of white or cream color, very juicy and tender, have a pronounced taste without excessive pungency and an unobtrusive smell. Nowadays, Japanese radishes have become as popular among gardeners as carrots, cabbage, radishes and others.
Growing daikon from seeds
Sowing seeds
It is necessary to plant a daikon in a seedling method, which has rounded fruits, since varieties with a long root crop do not tolerate picking and transplanting well. The best time to plant white radish seeds for seedlings is the second half of March and early April. Daikon seeds need pre-planting preparation. To begin with, they must be immersed in fifty-degree water for twenty minutes, then in cold water for the same time. After this procedure, the seeds should be placed in the refrigerator for a day.
The best soil for planting is a mixture of peat and humus. You need to plant 2-3 seeds in one pot, after they ascend, choose the strongest of them, and pinch the rest at the root, so that they do not waste useful substances and do not interfere with each other's growth and development. You need to deepen the seeds into the soil a couple of centimeters. After planting, the soil should be watered abundantly and the pots should be covered with plastic wrap to create a greenhouse effect and placed in a warm, well-lit room. Then, before sprouting, it is necessary to ventilate the soil daily by removing the film for about 15 minutes.
Daikon seedlings
Water the seedlings regularly. After each watering, the soil should be gently loosened. It is necessary to ensure that the daylight hours at the daikon do not last too long, as this can affect the root crops. Before planting in open ground, it is necessary to fill up the seedlings, for this you need to take out the pots to fresh air, gradually increasing the time spent outside. This will help the daikon seedlings to be transplanted outdoors more easily.
Planting daikon in open ground
When the seedlings have 2-3 leaves, it will be possible to plant them in open ground. It is necessary to transplant when the soil warms up enough, the probability of frost return will be zero, and the air temperature is at least 10 degrees. The planting site for Japanese radish should be in a sunny part of the garden.
As for the soil, the daikon prefers loose and fertile soils with moderate acidity.The preparation of the soil must be carried out in the fall. The soil must be carefully dug up and fertilized. Organic fertilizers such as rotted manure and compost solution work well. Good predecessors for daikon are: beets, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers and tomatoes. But there are those after which the daikon should not be planted: cabbage, radishes, turnips and turnips.
During planting, it is imperative to observe the distance between the seedlings, the distance between them must be at least thirty centimeters. You need to plant daikon seedlings in well-watered soil, after planting, dig it well, tamp the soil and mulch on top with peat, sawdust, dry foliage or hay. At first, you can carefully cover the seedlings with covering material so that they do not freeze at night.
Sometimes the daikon is planted before winter. This cannot be called an autumn planting, since planting is carried out in July-August. The soil for this planting is prepared in the same way as for the spring one. Planting white radish seeds requires several pieces. This will allow you to choose the strongest of them in the future. After planting, it is imperative to mulch the soil with peat.
Daikon care
Daikon does not need special care. It is enough to irrigate in a timely manner, loosen the soil, remove weeds and apply fertilizers. It is also imperative to spud the Japanese radish, as the roots peek out strongly from the soil.
Watering
Watering should be regular and abundant. Due to a lack of moisture, the roots will lose their pleasant taste, become bitter and very hard, and the shelf life will be significantly reduced and an unpleasant odor will appear. It is necessary to water the white radish at least once every 5 days. After each watering, be sure to loosen the soil, but do it very carefully so as not to damage the roots. Weeds should be weeded as needed.
Top dressing and fertilizers
If the daikon is planted in fertile soil, which was fertilized before planting, then there is no need to additionally feed the plant. But if the soil is not nutritious enough, it is necessary to apply balanced complexes of mineral fertilizers for vegetable crops a couple of times per season, which perfectly compensate for the lack of nutrients in the soil.
Cleaning and storing daikon
Daikon, which was planted in the spring, can be harvested already in the second sludge in the third month after planting, it all depends on the variety. But the daikon planted in the fall must be removed by the end of October. You should not redo the roots in the soil, as because of this they lose their juiciness, and the taste and smell become much weaker. It is better to clean in good weather without rain. For digging, it is better to use a pitchfork, this will help keep the amount of root damage to a minimum. The dug out fruits need to be spread out in the garden, remove excess soil from them and let dry. After that, you need to carefully cut the tops, place the fruits in boxes and send them with sand so that they do not touch each other. If all these conditions are met, the daikon will be stored for more than 3-4 months.
Diseases and pests
If you do not follow the rules of caring for a daikon, then he can get sick. When the soil is waterlogged, Japanese radish can get sick with mucous bacteriosis. Daikon can also affect such diseases as mosaic, black leg, felt disease, keela and vascular bacteriosis.
In order for the white radish to grow strong, healthy and not be affected by various diseases, it is necessary to follow the rules for watering and caring for the plant, choose more resistant varieties, weed in a timely manner, and also remove plant residues from the garden and destroy them. If the plant does get sick, then it is necessary to immediately start treating it. To do this, you need to treat the daikon with a solution of special biological products that help fight this or that disease.
Pests: cruciferous flea, rapeseed and cabbage bugs, cluster fly, scoop, flower enough, aphid moth.
You need to fight pests as soon as the first signs of their presence appear. To do this, it is necessary to adjust the watering and spray the daikon with a solution of special agents. Marigolds also help to repel insects. These flowers can be planted between the rows of the daikon, such a neighborhood will only be beneficial.
Daikon varieties
There are a lot of varieties of Japanese radishes, the more popular of them will be described below.
Group of varieties Nerime. The roots of this variety are quite long and can grow up to 70 cm in length and up to 10 cm in width. The fruits are smooth, tasty and very juicy.
A group of early maturing varieties of Sirogari. Root crops have a celendric shape. In length, they can reach about 30 cm. The growing season of such varieties lasts no longer than 50 days.
Minovase variety. The shape of the roots is quite original. Cylindrical at the top and elongated at the bottom. In length, they can grow up to 50 cm. For planting this variety, only sandy loam soil is needed.
Varieties of the Nineigo group. These varieties are resistant to frost and spreading. Root crops have a celendric shape at the top and conical at the bottom. Root crops of such varieties grow up to about 60 cm in length and 5 cm in width.
Kameida. Root crops of these varieties are conical in shape and grow in length no more than 15 cm. The taste of the fruits is sharp. These varieties have one feature, they eat not only root crops, but also leaves.
Daikon Sasha. This variety is early maturing. In length, the root crop grows up to 60 cm, has a snow-white color. Very crispy, tasty and juicy. Has a slightly pungent taste. The only drawback of this variety is that the fruits of this daikon are of different sizes.
Daikon Dubinushka. The Dubinushka variety is considered mid-season. Its huge plus is that it is resistant to diseases such as bacteriosis. Root crops are very large and can grow up to 60 cm, and their weight can reach four kilograms. White root vegetable with tasty and juicy pulp, which has a sweetish taste.
Daikon Flamingo. This variety is mid-season. The root crop is quite large and has an interesting purple-green-white color, which gives the daikon its originality. And the flesh of the fruit is pale pink and has a bright sweetish taste.
If you follow the rules of agricultural technology, then you can grow a strong and healthy plant with sufficiently large, tasty and juicy roots. Which will be well stored for a long time.
