How to... Grow Your Own Radishes

Next on our list of seedlings are the radishes :).. Don't forget to visit our stand tomorrow and up to friday between 9am and 4pm for your seed bag, and to check out the rest of the stand - we are on stand 1 (down from the quadrangle exit to the car park, to the right) - we are looking forward to meet you! : )

If you want an easy, stress-free vegetable to grow in your pot, then the radish is the veggie for you :)!

Here we will explain how to take care of these spicy and beautiful vegetables which can be ready for harvest in no time (usually in just a month’s time!). Another bonus for the radish is that it can be grown in containers very well!

So what are you waiting for? ;)

Radish needs a fertile, loose and well drained soil. Since radish is a quick crop, it is necessary that we use a good potting medium (so make sure you add compost!) to begin with.

For the small, red, roundish radish (like the ones you have in the Seed Bags) you can use a tray that is around 10 – 15 cm deep. Sow the seeds about 1 cm deep and place in full sun to part shade. Keep soil moist. Radishes germinate at lightning speed - sometimes in just a couple of days.

week-old radish seedlings

21 day old radish plants

Once the plants start growing, thin them out to provide 5 cm spacing between each plant. Add well decomposed compost (you can use vermin-compost, which we will speak of in another blog ;) ) after a week.

One month-old radish plants with vegetables poking out :D 

These radishes can be harvested when they are a month old, when a good sized top is poking out of the soil. Grip them at the base of the stem and slowly pull them out of the soil. To keep radishes fresh, remove the tops right after you pick them, then refrigerate.

If you want bigger ones, leave them for another 10 days but not more than that. If you delay harvesting, the radish will get starchy (with a hollow core) and will not be good. Radish leaves are also edible so you can also take few leaves for your consumption as they grow, but leave some for the plant as well. However be careful since the leaves of the red and roundish radishes will usually have tiny spines

Pests:

Flea beetles are quite common with radish. Since it flies and hops around, spraying insect repellents such as neem will not help. You can cover the crop with a mosquito net or insect proof net.

Flowers and Seeds:

When radish is left to grow, it will grow a flower stalk and start flowering to produce seeds.

Beautiful Radish Flowers

The seed pod is also edible! Let the seed pod dry and there you have seeds for the next season.

What seed-pods look like :) 

Written By Simone Cutajar

Adapted from geekgardener.in

How To ... Grow Your Own Courgettes

As part of our freshers stand set up we had our lovely Simone design and create seriously cute seed bags for you all to take home and grow..Each day we will put up info about the different seedlings which also include radish, carrot and lettuce.  Come and pick up your free seedbag at our stand! 

Aren't they the cutest?! :)

Meanwhile here's the know-how you need to grow tasty courgettes!

Courgettes are one of the easiest and most productive crops you can grow yourself. They are extremely fast - from sowing you can be eating your own within six weeks!!

What you'll need...

•          Courgette seeds (from the Seed Bags ^.^)
•          Multi-purpose compost
•          Hand trowel
•          Plastic pots
•          Seed trays

Step 1. For early crops, sow in seeds trays on a windowsill. Sow one seed per cell into moist multi-purpose compost.

Step 2. Transplant you strongest seedlings into individual plastic pots

If you do not have soil area, change the pot to a bigger one and add compost.

Step 3. Choose a sunny, sheltered spot and if you have soil area dig a hole, adding a trowel of compost to the soil. Plant out your courgette plants 90cm apart. Place a layer of 5cm of compost to help the soil hold moisture.

Step 4. Keep your plants healthy by adding compost or liquid feed (organic ;)) when required. Harvest regularly when they reach 10cm long.

       Tips

• Courgettes need plenty of water, but take care always to water at the base of the plant only or they'll rot.
• Keeping the soil permanently moist is ideal.
• The large fleshy flowers can be eaten, but fewer courgettes will develop if you harvest too many.
• Remember that courgettes are young marrows, so you can get two different crops on one plant if you let some develop into marrows.