Methods for propagating radishes?

14 years ago

I am growing French Breakfast radishes for the 2nd year and finally got the formula down to actually get radishes. Now I want to work on saving the seed so I can keep this yummy experiment going. I read and understood the radish entry in "Seed to Seed." From what I read there, I'm going to need more help :)

The book says they need to be pollinated from another plant and that they easily cross pollinate with other radishes and also wild radishes. It recommends that the largest contiguous patch be used for seed saving so a higher probability exists that the flowers will be pollinated by one of your radishes.

My situation seems really bad for seed saving but I'm very new to this so that's why I'm asking all of you. I have 4 seperate patches of my French Breakfast radishes and they are all very small (after thinning they average about 20 plants). Two patches were sown in early June. One of those is bulbing nicely and the other is not doing well because it's in partial sun and in hard pakced dirt. The remaining two patches are just sprouting now - I'll be thinning within a few days. What are the easiest technique for ensuring a pure pollination? Does my situation with small patches pose a problem and does my late planting pose a problem for saving seeds? Should I give up on this year and buy more seeds next year with better planning? What do I do??

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Comments (8)

gomanson
Original Author
14 years ago
My post is still at the top so this doesn't count as a bump :)

More thoughts:
The oldest patch I have is the one in the packed earth, and they aren't bulbing out at all. Should I leave these to seed since they're a lost cause anyway? They were all from the same seed packet so I'm sure it's just environment which is keeping them puny (so I'm not propagating the negative traits, right?) Is it a non-crazy plan to isolate these plants from bees and then hand pollinate them? How hard would that plan be?
gomanson
Original Author
14 years ago
My post is still at the top so this doesn't count as a bump :)

More thoughts:
The oldest patch I have is the one in the packed earth, and they aren't bulbing out at all. Should I leave these to seed since they're a lost cause anyway? They were all from the same seed packet so I'm sure it's just environment which is keeping them puny (so I'm not propagating the negative traits, right?) Is it a non-crazy plan to isolate these plants from bees and then hand pollinate them? How hard would that plan be?
denninmi
14 years ago
I think that you're overthinking this whole thing. Radish seeds are extremely easy to produce. Since you have only one variety, you don't need to worry about cross pollination. And, wild radishes are few and far between, so that isn't really a concern, at least here in North America. Radishes will grow seeds like the weeds they really are.

Just let them grow. You'll get plenty of seeds from them. Harvest when the pods are straw colored, but before they shatter.
rj_hythloday
14 years ago
I think the hard pack wouldn't be the best seeds to save. Strong healthy plants would be my choice for seed saving.

I am growing radishes solely for companions to my cucurbits. I might be missing out on something. I started w/ french breakfast and icicle, and have planted a few more since. One of the french breakfast went to seed and is a good 2 ft tall, reaching for the sun through the cuke trellis. I'm hoping they'll self seed.
josie23
14 years ago
Radishes WILL self-seed, don't you worry about that. They self-seed too well in some cases.

You can eat the seed pods too (as long as you have enough) when they are young. They are a nice spicy crunch when tossed in salads.
P POD
14 years ago
I am growing French Breakfast radishes for the 2nd year and finally got the formula down to actually get radishes.

Gomanson,
Would you mind sharing the formula by way of a link or otherwise?

Thanks very much!
farmfreedom
14 years ago
Some radishes start out as hybrids so they have to be de-hybridized if you want to breed a true and uniform type . I once crossbred red, red and white , white radishes an got all those colors and a few purple .
inlikeflint
12 years ago
Looks like this thread has been dead for a while. I found it in one of my Google searches.

I am trying to propagate seeds from radishes that were not red like the others. I actually had deep violet radishes that were real pleasant tasting. These radishes are so dark they almost look black until you cut them and then they have blue-violet color that is like a watercolor wash into the white meat of the radish.

I replanted the radish bulbs in compost and the original leaves died, then a new set of stronger leaves came up and bunched in places at the top and in the leave joints what appear to be wads of blooms, which will probably be seeds real soon. If radishes are anything like onions, the blooms should die off and you should be left with seeds... I am guessing this. Maybe Gomanson can get back to this tread and update everybody on what happened with the seed propagation project he/she started.

Here is a link that might be useful: Elmer's Fantastic Blog (My photo blog with radishes.)