Radish
Radish
This is the easiestof all vegetables to raise and includes all of thevarieties commonly grown in America. R.sativus longipinnatus or Chinese Radish de-velops a much larger, firmer-fleshed root,requiring a longer-growing season and isusually cooked. It is also known as a winterradish and is widely grown in the Orient, but oflittle importance M the United States.
Varieties
There are a large number of varieties of thecommon radish offered by seedsmcn. They varyin color: white, scarlet, rod, and yellow; in sizeand shape, round, ovate, long and cylindrical,and in maturity, 2o-6o or more days. Varietiesthat are suggested for the home gardener are’Scarlet Globe’, ‘French Breakfast’, ‘CherryBette’, ‘Coiner, ‘White Icicle’ and perhaps`White Chinese’ and ‘Round Black Spanish’ aswinter radishes.
Culture
The common radish seed will germinate in4-5 days and, if grown properly, will be ready toharvest in 25-40 days depending on the varietyplanted. Rapid growth is essential to developjuicy, crisp roots and, therefore, a rich, sandyloam soil of fine tilth is very important.
The seed is sown in drills 5ie. deep and spaced12,5 in. apart. Succession plantings should bemade every to days during the early spring andagain starting in Aug. Radishes grown duringmidsummer produce woody and pithy rootsvery rapidly. Because of the short maturityperiod, radishes work in well as an intercrop.
Insects
Root maggot is the only serious pest ofRadish.
Posted in Home and Gardening Ideas, Vegetable Gardening Ideas | Comments (0)
Radish
Synonyms: Raphanus sativus L. var. hortensis Backer, R. raphinastrum L. var. sativus L.
COMMON NAMES
Radish (Eng.); Radis (Fr.); Rabano (Sp.); Radieschen, Rettich (Ger.); Radijs (Neth.); Daikon (Asia); Mulla, Mullangi, Mullong (Ind.); Labalios (Philipp.); Lobak (Mal.); Monla (Burma); Lu Fu (Chin.); Hatsuka-daikon (Jap.); Mourai (W.I.).
CULTIVARS
Cultivars selected for specific regions are listed in Appendix 1.
CENTRE OF ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION
Probably western Asia (China); originally cultivated in Egypt, Syria, Greece and Italy and now widely distributed throughout the world.
Diploid chromosome number: 2n = 18.
AREAS OF CULTIVATION
South America, Central, East and West Africa, the Caribbean, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, China and most tropical areas.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
Annual herb, hairy.
Roots: thickened and tuberous, externally white or red, round, cylindrical or tapering, internal tissue white.
Stems: erect, hairy, up to 100 cm in height.
Leaves: lyrate-pinnatifid, up to 25 cm in length, with large terminal lobe. Flowers: white or pink, small, on long terminal racemes.
Fruit: a siliqua, inflated, indehiscent, with long conical beak, 3-7 cm in length, up to 1.5 cm in diameter, containing 6-12 seeds.
Seeds: yellow or brown, approximately 70-100 seeds/g.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE
Very tolerant to climatic conditions, the vegetative stage of growth appears to be little affected by a wide range of temperature and daylength variation, although cool conditions favour optimum growth. White-fleshed cultivars will flower under short daylengths at low elevations but the red-fleshed cultivars normally require long days or elevations in the region of 1000 m for flower and seed production. The white-fleshed are more pungent than the red-fleshed cultivars.
Light, well-drained soils favour early root production but an adequate supply of organic material is also necessary for good yields. Optimum pH is about 6.0-7.0. Crops grown on soils low in fertility or at very high temperatures may have a very pungent flavour. These conditions, including water shortage, may induce root elongation; an evenly distributed rainfall of 800-1000 mm is generally adequate for optimum growth and root development.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)