Radish on the balcony is a dream of many, because millions of people living in their apartments do not even have a piece of land on which to set up their own garden, but you really want to ...
The solution to the problem can be a balcony or a loggia - it seems like there is a lot of space, and there is plenty of light, why not arrange containers, pots, buckets and other containers with soil and plant your garden literally in your apartment?
Unfortunately, the pot of soil and the sown radish seed, alas, is not enough for the root crop to develop together and in three weeks you surprised your friends and household with a fresh root crop. For many, it simply goes to the root and tries to bloom. Why? Everything is elementary: radish is a plant of short days when the sun rises late and sets early. In addition to everything else, give the radish coolness, even the comfortable + 22 ° C is a bit too much for it.
Rules for growing radishes on the balcony
What follows from this? The fact that you need to plant radishes when the day is short, and do so that on the balcony where it will grow, at night the temperature is + 12 ... + 14 ° C, and in the daytime + 16 ... + 18 ° C.
If we take the middle zone of Russia, then the most favorable months for growing radishes on the balcony will be April and May, that is, the last two months of spring.
Balcony radish varieties
Of course, you should also select the best varieties, which have in their "genes" the possibility of growth in such conditions. These varieties, as a rule, are tasty, ripen quickly and amicably, and do not differ in the giant size of the root crop and increased requirements for the soil.
So, an excellent variety for growing on the balcony - Hussar... It ripens early (19-20 days), has an erect leaf rosette and forms a rounded root crop, scarlet in color with a slightly convex head. The pulp is snow-white, very tender and unusually juicy. The weight of each root vegetable varies from 23 to 25 g. The taste is excellent, and up to 3.5 kg of root vegetables can be harvested from a square meter.
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Cultivar 18 days - this is the minimum period through which you can harvest, and the maximum is 23-24 days. It is clear that this is an early maturing variety. It has a semi-erect rosette of leaves and an elongated-cylindrical root crop, in which the upper part is painted pink. The head is convex. The pulp is snow-white, very dense, slightly sharp. The weight of the root crop varies from 16 to 18 g. The taste is excellent, and the yield is up to 2.4 kg per square meter. The variety is ideal because it ripens in a short time, gives a high yield of marketable products and has a wonderful taste.
Ruby - also an early variety, but the harvest can be expected up to 25-29 days. This is a typical radish - it is like a ball, scarlet, always aligned and ripening amicably. Weight - up to 19 g, yield per square meter - just over 2.5 kg. The taste of the snow-white pulp is ideal, there is no pungency at all.
Hothouse The variety is perfect for growing on the balcony, it ripens 5-8 days earlier than Rubin. It can even grow on loggias that are glazed, but not insulated. The pulp is snow-white, very juicy and tasty. The color of the root vegetable is deep red. It can weigh up to 23 g, and more than 3 kg of root crops can be harvested from a square meter.
Cultivar Sachs can be planted on the balcony next to other varieties in order to extend the season for the consumption of fresh products, because sometimes it ripens even after a month or even a little more, and belongs to the category of mid-early varieties. The root crop of this radish weighs 22 g, it is painted in a maroon color, has a snow-white, very juicy and tasty pulp. Ripens amicably, the leaves do not lie down.
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Corundum belongs to the category of early varieties, however, harvesting can be carried out 27-29 days after sowing the seeds. This variety is also distinguished by a straight rosette of leaves, and the roots are rounded and scarlet in color. The pulp is very juicy and tender, snow-white in color. Root weight varies from 14 to 16 g.The taste is excellent, the yield is solid - up to 3.4 kg per square meter. The variety ripens in a short time, is harvestable, has an excellent taste.
Well, and the famous variety that is most often grown on the balcony is Mokhovsky... The root crop is snow-white, ripens very early, after 20 days, but if the conditions are not entirely suitable, ripening can take up to a month. The variety has an almost perfect rounded shape, snow-white, excellent-tasting pulp and ripens almost all at the same time. The weight is about 20 g, and the yield per square meter is about 3 kg.
How to plant radishes on the balcony
I would advise planting radish seeds on the balcony in wooden boxes, knocked down so that the earth does not wake up, that is, tightly. The slots can be repaired with paper when assembling the box. You can sow in other containers, say, ordinary plastic cups with a diameter of 5-7 cm and a depth of 15 cm, and set them in boxes, close to each other.
Priming... The soil for boxes, cups or other containers must be prepared from a mixture of humus, garden soil, river sand and low-lying peat, mixing everything well.
Sowing seeds... When sowing, which is carried out to a depth of about 2 cm (in a recess in a cup or in beds in boxes), the seeds are sprinkled with loose and moist soil. Then lightly sprinkle with humus (0.3 cm, no more). After planting over the containers with seeds, you can build something like skeletons, dug with a film, and when shoots appear, then remove them.
Watering should be done as the soil dries up, but usually every 4-6 days. It is great if you use settled water, thawed, rainwater (generally soft), at room temperature.
Top dressing... After a week and a half, you can cheer up the radish by adding top dressing - azophoska dissolved in water is suitable, only 4-6 g is needed for 5 liters of water, this is enough for 25-30 plants.
And do not forget about the weak loosening of the soil, and when the leaves begin to grow intensively, you can poke them a little.
These are all the secrets of a good harvest of radish on the balcony.
Photo by the author
