I was bored this winter , so I decided to try and grow radish from seed in pots indoors under grow lights . I had never done it before , so I had no idea what to expect . My bad business concern was that the bulb might turn out spicy or woody , or that the plants would lead off bloom before even developing the medulla oblongata because of the relatively high-pitched temperature . You see , the temperature in the way where I keepmy indoor veggie seeded player start out setupis ordinarily around 20 degrees Celsius ( 68 degrees Fahrenheit ) , which may be a mo too high for this cool - time of year root vegetable …
Turns out , I did just fine ! The bulbs were n’t exactly swag - achiever in price of size or looks , but they sample great – especially pair with the pelf that I also grew inside this past winter !
So , my resolution is yes , you could mature this root vegetable from seeded player indoors in pots , but only if you provide enough light – either from the sun or fromquality grow ignitor . If you ’re interested about trying it yourself , or just want to know more about it , then keep reading , and I will partake exactly how I did it …
I had grown this radish plant entirely indoors. I started it on the 2ndof January 2024 and harvested it on the 21stof February 2024. It wasn’t perfect. Its bulb was a bit cracked, and the leaves lacked that vibrant green color too. But it tasted just the same as those you get from the garden. I took this image on the day of the harvest.
The containers and the soil I used
I initially intended to plant only in this veggie seed starting mobile phone tray . But since I had peck of extra pre - germinated seeds left from the paper towel method ( I will explain this in more item in the next part ) , I make up one’s mind not to squander those semen . Instead , I imbed them in a few large , undivided jackpot that you may see on the image below .
I filled both the cells and the pots with a mixture of pot soil and earthworm castings . I was quite generous with the earthworm castings because I wanted the radish to have raft of nutrient to bring forth the bulbs . I used it as a plant food in a 1:1 ratio with the land .
How I planted the radish seeds
The next tone was to implant the seminal fluid . I chose the rotund cherry radish – nothing exotic , just a received , medium - sized variety that I care – and then plant the cum in two different style :
I watered the mobile phone tray exhaustively flop after direct sowing and immediately pose it under the grow lights . The soil was still dampish enough two days later when the seeds from the newspaper publisher towel had sprout and were ready for planting . So there was no need to water again . However , had the soil been dry , I would have unquestionably needed to irrigate it again .
As mentioned , I also institute a few leftover come from the newspaper towel method acting into the the large , individual tummy . That was four daytime after direct sowing . I water these lot exhaustively too and then placed them under the grow lights as well .
I had grown this radish plant entirely indoors. I started it on the 2ndof January 2024 and harvested it on the 21stof February 2024. It wasn’t perfect. Its bulb was a bit cracked, and the leaves lacked that vibrant green color too. But it tasted just the same as those you get from the garden. I took this image on the day of the harvest.
How I cared for the radish plants
Then I waited for the radish flora to go forth from the soil . I did n’t have to wait long , though . The first I appear four days after direct sowing , and the rest followed within a few days . To my surprisal , the seeds I pop out with the paper towel method acting did not pullulate any faster than those I seed now . In fact , the direct - sown unity come out of the dry land a day to begin with !
By the close of the first calendar week , I could already thin the plants that grew from the directly sown seeds . I remove all the extra plant so that there was only one radish plant growing in each cell , which founder them enough room to grow and develop properly .
Everything go swimmingly from then on , and all I had to do in the weeks that survey was :
This is part of the vegetable seed starting cell tray that I used to grow radish indoors. It has 28 cells, with each being 6.5 cm (2.6 inches) tall and 5.5 cm (2.2 inches) wide at the top.
And that was basically it .
When I harvested the radishes
The plant grew comparatively fast . Most of the bulb in the cell tray started to take on a nice , pear-shaped shape . However , the ones in the individual pots had less rounded , more stretch bulb , but noticeably bigger leaves .
Then , three and a half hebdomad after lineal sowing , I decided to move the jail cell tray and all but four of the plant in the individual green goddess out tothe miniature greenhouse . You see , I postulate more space under the grow lights because the lettuce needed transplantation into bigger pots . Plus , the conditions was favorable . While it was still wintertime , there was no hard freeze and I knew the plant life would survive without problems …
I let the remaining four plants deep down grow for about three and a half more weeks before harvesting them on the 21stof February . I could have done it earlier – they were definitely the right size – but I desire to see if the bulbs would continue to raise . And I was also funny how they would liken to the ones I moved outside .
These are the single pots that I also used for growing radish. At about 7.8 cm (3.1 inches) tall and with tops approximately 10 cm (3.9 inches) wide, they are noticeably larger than the cells of the tray.
What I learned during this indoor radish growing experiment
Despite the trouble that my indoor growing environs was too warm for radish ( I did essay to make it a scrap coolheaded though by keeping the windowpane candid during the solar day when the grow illumination were on ) the plants managed to grow bulbs . The bulbs – except for one – were change shape a bit , but they all taste great , no different than the ones grow outdoors in the garden !
As far as size endure , the medulla oblongata of the indoor plants were :
This made me realize that the size of it of the growing container thing . The large the growing container , the faster the radish seems to spring up and the gravid its bulb is . If I ever decide to get radish indoors again , I will definitely go with the larger , single potful . They are the perfect size of it for farm radish in pots .
This was the first time I started radish seeds with the paper towel method. It took less than two days for them to sprout. I planted the ones that went into the cell tray as soon as they sprouted — on the 4th of January. And the ones that went into the single pots, I planted two days later—on the 6th of January.
What ’s interesting , though , is that the plants I go outside – regardless of the container – looked salubrious . The electric light had a brighter red color . And the leave were noticeably greener . I suppose the cool , sometimes even freeze external weather did them good . They are a cool - season vegetable , after all .
The semen depart cell tray did alright too . Not only was it very convenient to move around and body of water , but the bulbs – although smaller – were still big enough to eat and definitely had kernel to them .
That ’s it . I hope you discover something useful from this indoor growing experiment of mine . It proved that – if you have the grow visible radiation for it or a very cheery windowsill – you’re able to emphatically grow radish from seeds indoors . The flora grow fast ( I was able to develop them from seed to glean in less than two months ) and they do not require a sight of space either . Keep in mind , though , that they are very likely give-up the ghost to begin bloom sooner than the ones grown outside in nerveless weather , so do n’t wait too long to glean them !
The seeds I sowed directly (front two rows) came out of the ground in just four days (on the 6th of January), while the ones I started with the paper towel method (back two rows) were nowhere to be seen yet. Although the direct-sown ones were slightly faster, I did have to thin them in the days that followed.
Two days later, on the 8th of January, the seeds started with the paper towel method turned into plants as well. Although they needed a bit more time, they were not much smaller than the direct-sown ones. I took this photo right before thinning.
This is how the radish looked on the 27th of January. Although the bulbs were still relatively small, I could definitely have started picking them at that time. And the leaves would have been useful as salad greens too!
There was no visible difference in size between the plants that grew from the seeds I sowed directly and those that grew from the seeds I pre-germinated on the wet paper towel. However, there was a difference between the plants that grew in the cell tray and those that grew in larger, single pots. The ones in the single pots were bigger, but most of them had elongated bulbs. I don’t know why — perhaps because I left them on the paper towel for two additional days before planting them in the soil.
These are the four plants that I kept indoors under grow lights the entire time — from the 2nd of January to the 21st of February. Only one has a (nearly) perfect size and shape. The other three are more seriously deformed, likely due to uneven watering and perhaps the higher growing temperature as well. We ate all of them, though, despite their irregularities.
The radish on the left grew inside for the whole eight weeks. The one on the right spent its last three and a half weeks outside. The indoor-grown radish is definitely bigger. But when you look at the red color of the bulb and the green color of the leaves, it is obvious that the outdoor radish looked much better — it had a rounder bulb and longer, healthier-looking leaves.
Now, if you’re wondering how well the radish that I moved outdoors performed, it did very well. The plants and their bulbs kept growing for more than three months without bolting (flowering). The ones in the cell tray got quite big too — I guess they just needed more time — and we were able to keep harvesting them all the way up to the middle of April! Photo taken on the 2nd of April.
