splitting radishes

[helanuels]

Hello lovely, clever grapes.

I wondered if any of you could explain to me why my radishes keep splitting.

I tried to find out online but it said something about not enough water and I'm confused because I have been watering from underneath whenever they need a top up (growing in a tesco square flower bucket, a co-op round flower bucket, an old plastic storage box and an old plant pot using multi-purpose compost) and also, its been raining loads this past week.

I have three types growing:

China rose
Pink slipper and
Cherry belle

And they all keep splitting. They end up looking like they have little capes on them.
I also have some Zlata but wanted to understand the splitting issue before using these because I dont have loads of seeds and I don't want to waste them.
Hope somebody knows how to solve this problem, it's driving me mad!

Thanks for your time! Hx

P.S. I'm not entering any sort of show, so if they still taste ok, does it really matter? Except for the fact it annoys me that is? Hx

[Hazel at the Hill]

I'm guessing too much rain is swelling the radish so they split. Happened with all the cherries on the tree this year too - not that the blackbird's minded.

I'm sure that they are fine to eat.

[PAULW]

The problem could be you are watering from the bottom while this may be good enough to sustain life radish are mainly water and need loads to grow fat so as you say it has rained hard on them they drink like mad and end up splitting

[willsc1]

I'd eat them anyway, now that they have capes they are super radishes!

[helanuels]

Lmao Will! I've added pics to my album!

Paul... would that still happen if they have a constant supply of water from below? It seems most likely... mum says it may be inconsistant watering... anybody know if that affects it?

Hazel, if it is too much water, I can't mend that, but as u say, if they taste ok I will eat them anyway.

The pics I've added show them from tiny to large and how they split.

Thank you grapes. Will keep you posted!

Helen x

[PAULW]

HELANUELS
What you have to consider is the length of root and the depth of container you dont want the plant to spend all its energy growing root looking for water, personally I water everything from the top keep it well moist then if I miss a day or two I know there is always water deeper down in the pot,

[rustylady]

Hi Helen, I've just looked at your pictures. It doesn't look to me as if your radishes are split. Some varieties just look like that. Eat away - they look lovely

[flubba-jubba]

my radishes look like that too......they still taste nice though

[helanuels]

Hello! I just wanted to say thank you! I pulled a real beauty today! It was long and tapered, more like a tiny carrot in shape. (pictures to follow in album... still on phone at the mo)

Thanks for explaining paul, I have taken the tray from under the pot and used it for a rather sad looking salad bowl (the pot drains too quickly because I didnt know about crocking when I potted it up)

Thank you Rusty Lady, I do feel a little proud! I'm eating the radishes now for supper with lettuce (not mine I'm afraid) and a little salt. Very tastey!

What variety are you growing flubba?

[helanuels]

Update! I pulled 6 more today.... One looked HUGE but when I pulled it it was small... LOL! so I pulled a small one on the off chance and it was big.... confused
They tasted so good! My mum shook my hand lol. I had them in couscous with veg stock cube.. the pink slipper are much hotter than the cherry belle. The biggest one didnt look at all split... seems they loose their capes as they grow older. I'm going to sow my Zlata now. I'll let you know how they do! Thanks grapes so much! Helen x

[piskieinboots]

radish don't need large containers, watering from the bottom for a bucket will take forever to get to the radish, you may well end up with a maahoosive tap root but that's not what you want.

So, shallow(ish) (depending on type of radish) container, lots of water from the top

Pretty as PW says above

[flubba-jubba]

im growing scarlet globe

this is my first year growing my own, and i didnt thin them out properly!!
ive had a few gooduns but the rest havent grown at all, i pulled up 7 nice ones tonight (now in my salad for lunch tomorrow) and the rest ive pulled up and chucked

got some more seeds planted out (thinly) so hopefully these will grow better

[helanuels]

7 nice ones is brilliant ... Don't you just love that feeling of knowing u put that in the ground as a tiny seed and woohoo! A radish! It's like magic every time.
It's my first year too, my first lot of sowings I was going to transplant... I forgot, so I ate some VERY thin bright red radish type things and they were Really REALLY strong. hehe!
The second sowings just grew thin roots that started to grow above the ground. I had a little look online a decided I didn't sow them quite deep enough.
The third sowing got sown at a depth of two cm instead of one and mostly they are better for it I think. Then they got sat on by a cat, then a squirrel came to have a dig and bury some nuts but I disturbed him. As I'd sown these along with some carrots, I tried to level out the soil and seedlings again but I think I only have 5 carrots growing now. This third sowing is the one this thread was started about. They are growing well and each day I've had a nice radish to nibble on whilst plodding about. They were sown about 5cm apart with the carrot seeds in the gaps.
Let me know how your lunch was (how big were your 7?) Hx

[helanuels]

radish don't need large containers, watering from the bottom for a bucket will take forever to get to the radish, you may well end up with a maahoosive tap root but that's not what you want.

So, shallow(ish) (depending on type of radish) container, lots of water from the top

Pretty as PW says above

I have a container that's about 20cm high, does this sound more like it? Hx

[flubba-jubba]

lunch was lovely!! lol