Radish

Harvest your daikon before the first hard frost, cut off the foliage and layer the roots in slightly moist sand. Stored like this in a cool, dark, frost-free cellar (or a clamp), they stay crisp over winter.

You propagate daikon exclusively by direct sowing outdoors; it forms no runners, cannot be divided and is not grafted. Sow the seeds directly in place in rows from April to early August, about 1 cm deep, with about 5 cm between plants in the row and 25 to 30 cm between rows. Early and summer varieties can be sown in succession every 2 to 3 weeks so that you have a continuous harvest; autumn and winter radishes (for example daikon) only go into the bed from early July. The soil should be at least 8 °C. Thin the seedlings at the seed-leaf stage to 15 to 20 cm apart so that the roots can develop fully.

If you want to save your own seed, you need several plants: daikon is self-incompatible, so a single plant hardly sets any seed. So leave at least five to six strong specimens of a variety standing and do not harvest them; the more plants, the more vigorous the seed. They bolt into flower the following year (or in the same year with summer sowing and great heat) and form pods; insects take care of pollination from plant to plant. Wait until the pods are brown and almost dry, then cut off the shoots and let them ripen further on newspaper. Roll the dry pods out in a cloth bag with a rolling pin to release the seeds. Important: daikon crosses easily with radishes and other Raphanus varieties via insects. For seed that comes true to variety, only one variety should flower at a time, or a clear distance should be kept. In the home garden a separation of a few hundred metres is usually enough; alternatively, stagger the flowering of varieties in time. Stored dry and cool, the seed stays viable for around 4 to 5 years.