My question is about growing long white radish(daikon).

Question

It’s my first time to grow white ,long radish or daikon.I probably sowed the seed in late April and thin them out in early June,probably. I have them in a raised bed garden together with sugar peas,snow peas,spinach, and sugar beets.My question is,how come the leaves or the stalks have grown so tall like more than 3 feet and have bloom flowers. I put bamboo stakes so they do not lean on the other plants that I have in the raised bed like the snow and sugar peas.I pinched off the blooms because I want the radish to grow bigger. A can see a little bit of the radish on the ground and they looked small. So I thought that if I pinched off the flowers , the plant will concentrate on growing big radishes than blooming flowers.I have the same problem with spinach: they have grown tall with flowers too. What do you think is the problem.

Answer 1

Sounds like you radish and spinach are bolting, This often occurs when it is hotter than the plant likes or when you have passed harvest maturity. We see this in many plants. Cabbage, Kale, Spinach, lettuce and other plants when it has gotten too warm for the plant to survive. Spinach likes cooler weather. Setting flowers and then seeds is a survival method. Sometimes when we have an unexpected hot spell this will occur. As for the height of the radishes is may be a combination of stretching for light if they are too shaded by surrounding plants and the heat or too close together. Once the radishes have gone to flower you cannot encourage the plant to develop a larger radish bottom. Pull them out and replant. Making sure there is enough space between the radish plants is important for development of a proper radishes. You may want to buy pelleted seeds which are easier to handle and plant farther apart, either eliminating or reducing the amount of thinning you need to do. Thinning too late will also impact the quality of the radish. You can try and cut back the flower stems of the spinach, but if it is hot in your area you may have to wait for another planting season. Enjoy your garden.