Tiny raddishes, loads of leaf.

[Ben1971]

Hi. I interplanted radishes between my cabbages as a fill in crop. I have loads of them popping up, although overcrowded by the whopping cabbages that have gone mad, there were big leaves on the raddishes but hardly any had developed big enough roots to eat. I have left them for long enough as I know them to be quick developers. I have heard of soil being too rich or fertile for root veg. Does this apply to raddish? I started the raised beds off by using some compost and the top soil layer from my chicken pen.... it had loads of muck in it Oh and some granular feed.

[JulieSherris]

Maybe the soil was too nitrogen rich for the radishes?
Nitrogen is great for leafy plants, like cabbages & lettuces, but can halt root/fruit growth - you might have to pop some more seeds elsewhere? I am still sowing radish seed, & sow right through to August because it only takes 3 to 4 weeks from seed to plate, so there's still plenty of time.

[MKG]

I agree with Julie - too much nitrogen. I think your whopping cabbages going mad suggest that too. All is not lost, though - let a few of your radishes go to seed and eat the seed pods.

Mike

[Ben1971]

I agree with Julie - too much nitrogen. I think your whopping cabbages going mad suggest that too. All is not lost, though - let a few of your radishes go to seed and eat the seed pods.

Mike

Well at least I know what to grow on my old disused chicken pen! ..... more cabbages

Eat the seed pods? I never heard of that but will give it a go! Do you eat them raw?

[MKG]

Yes, if you like. Pick 'em while they're still young and tender and mix them in with young leaves (and grated raw beetroot) - a great salad. Or they're good in stir fries. You can't miss the things - radishes grow surprisingly tall (it really does surprise most people) and the pods are obvious.

Oh - if you do let them grow, forget all about eating the root unless you have amazing teeth - they get extremely tough.

Mike

[homegrown]

also you need to be sure you are water the ground not the leaves with root vegetables as thats where they store their water, so maybe just run drip lines under the cabbages as they maybe consumming a lot of the water and nutrients as well.

[frozenthunderbolt]

Eat the seed pods? I never heard of that but will give it a go! Do you eat them raw?

Yep. I also use them as an ingredient of my killer piccalilli/chowchow. Nice crunch and a little bite.

[JeremyinCzechRep]

Thanks for the tip about eating the leaves. I'll give it a try tonight.