Spongey radishes

[Curlykale]

I pulled up some of my radishes today but they were soft and spongey - anyone know why?

[Jeanied]

I think they need to be pulled earlier, before they get to this stage, Curly-Kale. I find I delay too much when I grow them and often miss the nice, young, crunchy stage! Either that or I don't water well enough in dry weather - which also causes a problem.

[Adrastea]

Mine were spongy last year, they didn't taste of much and were quite wet. Does this sound like yours?

This year they have been really tasy. I have left mine to mature so they're quite big and don't feed them or anything. They are just growing in compost. But as soon as they reach a large marble size I pull them up. I agree with J in that maybe they have sat around too long?

[Nicos]

Don't waste them- saute them gently in butter- they're lovely like that!

I agree too- not enough water and perhaps in the ground a tad too long.
Maybe try another variety next time?

[piskieinboots]

I would agree with the lack of water too - I've been caught out with that one, they need good water and not too much hot sun, I use my shady areas for things such as radish and lettuce

[Nicos]

Shady area? yup- same here

Different soil types need different amounts of watering remember.

I've found that some varieties grow more under the soil level- and don't tend to dry out quite as quickly for some reason.

[hamsterhead]

How do I tell when they're ready for harvesting? I picked a couple which had lots of leaves but the radish themselves were very small. Seems a shame to keep picking them just to see how big they are.

[Nicos]

Fiddle around the soil line. They're not all ready at the same time so just pick the largest, fattest ones. ...but don't leave them in too long or they get woody !

If you're almost ready for cropping, you want to get some more sown

[Curlykale]

Thanks everyone - yep, I think you're all right - I think I should have watered them more and picked them earlier. They didn't have much flavour, and were quite big - some of them were almost sitting on top of the soil. Will sow some more this weekend.