What Is Up With These White Radishes?

Question

Novice gardener here. Thought I’d try white radishes. They are now about 18″ tall and still only very thin radishes forming – hardly round at all. Just a tiny nibble. They have white flowers and have grown little pea pod looking things EVERYWHERE that smell like radishes. These are pretty much taking over the world. I figure I may as well cut them way down to force more energy into the bulb. But is this how it goes? I can’t find any info or pics of what I’ve grown.

Answer 1

It sounds like your radishes have bolted and the pea pod things are seed pods (you can let them just keep growing and then collect seeds for next year). You can try to cut off the flowers, but it is unlikely that it will help with forming the root better at this point.

You should pull the plants out (or leave them to collect the seeds) and try again. They will not likely grow proper roots at this time. Keep the new crop well watered and try mulching around them after they appear to help keep the roots cool. This will help stave off bolting and encourage them to grow better roots.

Answer 2

Thanks Heather! I didn’t even know about bolting. I just read about it and now I do. Thanks.