Growing radishes on the balcony: is it possible to plant a vegetable at home, also in plastic bottles, how to do it step by step, what conditions must be observed and the rules of care

For any gardener, experiments have always been interesting. Growing radishes on the balcony is not so difficult, because it is one of the most unpretentious cultures, even a beginner gardener can grow it.

In the article, we will talk in detail about how to grow radishes on the balcony and enjoy its piquant, bright and juicy fruits and share all the intricacies of growing this root crop.

Is it possible to get root crops at home?

The answer to this question is unequivocal - yes, you will cope with this task if you can comply with all the conditions for planting and growing radishes. The best place to grow is a balcony. There is enough space and light on the balcony. Radish loves coolness, so it will feel comfortable on the balcony.

Features

Planting radishes is optimal when the day is still short, and maintain a temperature that is comfortable for it: at night the temperature should not be higher than + 12 ... +14^aboutC, and during the day no higher than + 16 ... +18^aboutC. The most successful months for planting radishes on the balcony are April and May.

Growing on the balcony has both positive and negative sides. On the north-facing balcony, the fruits will suffer from a lack of sunlight, this can cause the fruit to grow bitter. But the constant presence of fresh air on the balcony allows the radish to grow fully. But on the closed balcony, you can even equip a home greenhouse, where you can grow radishes all year round.

The main difference between growing on the balcony and growing on the windowsill is that the seeds on the windowsill can be planted all year round, it’s enough to follow all the necessary conditions, while on the open balcony you can plant the crops only in the last two months of spring or summer.

What must be observed?

We will analyze in detail what conditions are necessary for growing radishes:

Priming. The ideal soil for radish is chernozem or loam. But you can make it yourself by mixing humus, ordinary earth, a little sand and peat, thoroughly mixing everything.
Watering the soil. Watering is necessary every 4-6 days, so that the soil does not have time to dry out.
Top dressing. Radishes need to be fed using special fertilizers. For example, an azofoska diluted in water (a proportion of 4-5 grams per 5 liters of water) is suitable.
Soil loosening. Do not forget that radish loves loose soil. It is necessary to loosen the earth weakly and accurately, so that it does not become too dense.
Required temperature. The temperature should not be higher than 18 degrees.

In what capacity should the seeds be placed?

Everyone decides for himself what it will be more convenient for him to plant the seeds: you can purchase a special box for planting seeds, which consists of many cells. Someone grows radishes in plastic bottles, someone uses small boxes for flower seedlings.

The height of the container into which you will plant the seeds should be at least 15-20 cm.

Landing time

As was written above, the best time for replanting on the balcony is the last months of spring. But it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the local climate, because in some regions in April there is minus temperature.

Radish cultivation step by step

The following are useful tips on how to plant a root crop at home.

Seeds are planted to a depth of about 2-3 cmhaving made indentations in bottles, sprinkle with moist, loosened soil. You can sprinkle a little humus on top.

You can cover the plastic bottles with seeds with cling film by pulling it over them to create a greenhouse effect. When shoots appear, the film must be removed immediately.

Watering is necessary as the soil dries. After two weeks, you can already feed, add mineral fertilizers.

Grade selection

Consider the most popular varieties for growing on the balcony.

Hussar

This variety ripens very quickly (up to three weeks), has white, juicy and tender flesh. Each fruit of the Gusar variety radish weighs 23-25 grams, and from one square meter a large crop: 3-3.5 kg.

Ruby

Harvesting the fruits of this variety is usually expected for about a month. it perfect radish - round, scarlet, smooth. It weighs about 18-19 grams, gives a yield of about 2.5 kg per square meter, to the taste, tender and juicy, without sharpness.

We offer you to watch a video about the Rubin radish variety:

Cultivar

This variety gives a crop in the period from 18 to 24 days. This variety also belongs to early ripening. The pulp of this root crop is white, dense, with light spiciness, weight varies from 16 to 18 g. The hothouse variety is one of the most popular varieties of radish that gardeners choose for growing on the balcony. It ripens very quickly, grows even on open loggias, the pulp is white and juicy, there is no sharpness, the color is bright scarlet, weighing up to 23 grams, and from one square meter it can yield up to 3.5 kg.

Corundum

Harvest can be expected in about a month. The mass of this variety of radish is in the range from 14 to 16 g. It yields a yield of up to 2.5 kg per square meter, has a juicy piquant taste. Mokhovsky variety - the most popular variety of radishes for growing on the balcony. Ripens on average after 20 days, has a round shape, bright scarlet color of the fruit, ripens almost simultaneously, gives large fruits weighing up to 20 grams and yield up to 3-3.5 kg.

We offer you to watch a video about the variety of radish Corundum:

Where and for how much can I buy seeds?

Radish seeds can be bought at any store for gardeners, or can be ordered through online stores. Packing with seeds is packaged by weight 2-15 grams. For example, a pack of Mokhovsky radish seeds costs 13 rubles per 3 grams. The seeds of the Rubin variety radish cost 16 rubles for a package weighing 5 grams, which contains about 500 seeds.

Required Inventory

So we need:

Wooden box tightly covered with paper.
Plastic bottles. Bottles need to be cut off the neck, leaving a depth of 15-20 cm.
Priming.
Seeds
Water for watering the soil.
Thermometer.

Radish prefers loose, moderately moist soil. Chernozem, loam - ideally suitable varieties of soil.

How to prepare planting material?

Before planting radishes, the seeds are sorted. Radish seeds can be prepared for planting in various ways:

Sort the seeds, select the largest, wrap them with a damp cloth and put them in a warm place for a day.
Keep the seeds in hot water for about 20 minutes at a temperature of 50 degrees to disinfect them.
After that, the seeds are dried and soaked in a mineral solution.

Scheme

Fill the cut plastic bottles with 2/3 primer.
In the center, make a 1-2 cm deepening, plant a radish seed there, after which gently pour water with settling water, or plant in a pre-moistened soil.
After planting the seeds, cover with plastic wrap, which will protect the soil from drying out during the period of seed germination.
When the first green shoots appear, the film is removed.

It is better to plant seeds one at a time, because overgrown leaves will have to be removed, which is fraught with damage to the roots and a decrease in radish growth.

Care

Top dressing. In order for the crop to sprout almost at the same time and please with its volumes, it is necessary not to forget about timely fertilizing of root crops with fertilizers. Experienced gardeners use superphosphate and potassium salt in the first week after germination based on the proportion: for every 5 liters of water, 7 and 5 grams of fertilizer are used, respectively.
Hardening. In order for the sprouts to be resistant to temperature changes, it is necessary to harden them. To do this, after almost all shoots have appeared, you need to lower the temperature to 7-8 ° C. After 3-4 days, the temperature is again raised to the usual 16-18 degrees.
Hilling. In the first 14 days, at least once every 3 days you need to very carefully loosen the soil and spud the first seedlings. If the sprouts rose too densely, then they need to be thinned out so that the distance is at least 5 cm.
Watering should be timely, the soil should not dry out, but it is impossible to allow high humidity.

If the sprouts are too close to each other, then they can not be pulled out, you need to use sharp scissors.

When and how to harvest?

In order to collect the richest crop, radish must be collected in several stages, making a gap of several days. If the root crops of early varieties are overexposed in the soil at least a couple of days longer than they should be, they will very quickly begin to crack and rot.

It is very easy to collect radishes, they just pull it at the tops and it easily comes to the surface. Before you tear a plant out of the soil, you need to remove a little earth from the tops to understand what size the fruit is. If the radish has reached a diameter of 2-2.5 cm or more, then it is time to collect it, and if the fruit is still too small, it must be sprinkled with soil and left to ripen.

How to protect from night frosts?

Perfect a means of protecting seedlings from the cold is a non-woven material - spandbond. It is able to maintain a positive temperature with an external decrease in temperature to -6 ° C. The use of spandbond is remarkable in that it perfectly transmits sunlight and water, and on radish seedlings creates comfortable conditions for its further growth.

In addition to using non-woven material, gardeners often resort to using plastic film, pulling it like a dome over seedlings and creating the effect of a greenhouse.

In the article, we examined all the subtleties of growing radishes on the balcony. This juicy, tasty, extremely rich in vitamins and self-grown root vegetable can decorate your table. Observe the conditions of care and storage and the crop will delight you with its quality!