Final Word on Growing Daikon Radish

When Fall arrived, I planted some daikon radish seeds. They began to grow right away. After a while, I planted more. I was really hoping I would like them. I tried. I don’t. This is my final word on this vegetable.

They are milder than a regular, small red radish. But they are still radishes. I tried numerous times to eat them in salad, or as a slaw mixed with carrots and sugar.

I would mix up the grated carrots, Daikon, sugar and oil, then let it sit for a while. This slaw mix ended up being okay mixed with greens as a salad. But not great. Honestly, it wasn’t worth my time and effort.

Now it is almost February. This means Spring planting is right around the corner. It was time to pull up the Daikons to make space for something more edible.

Growing Daikon Radish in Zone 9B

I had great luck growing the Daikon radish in my garden. The first seeds were planted September first. It is still very hot here and they grew. I planted another variety in October. Both types seemed to taste exactly the same, but the Miyashige White grew bigger. I bought the seeds at Annie’s Heirloom Seeds.

Some plants were a bit close together, but I don’t have a lot of space. They grew without any problems, through heat in early Fall, and cold, drought, and rain in January. Figures. All the foods I DON’T LIKE grow super well here. (Okra is on my mind.)

Many radishes became quite large, but others were still small when I pulled them. It is amusing how they push upward out of the dirt.

It might be a fun crop for kids to grow. Be aware that the leaves are a little bit prickly.

I began a new compost pile with all the radishes I wouldn’t be eating. Nothing goes to waste. These will break down and provide rich soil to put back into the garden.

I think that the only thing I can say about growing these big radishes is that they help to break up the soil. The roots are very long. Because they are so large, with bunches of greenery, they add goodness to compost. It’s not a good reason to grow them, so I am done.