Radish Plant Growing Cycle

Germination

• Radishes do best in loose rich, well-drained soil that provide them with lots of room for root expansion as this is key to their development. Planted 1/2 inch deep and 1 inch apart, the seeds burst into life by sending a single taproot down into the soil and a small shoot up through the surface. The plant's first set of leaves are not true leaves but simply the remains the seed's embryo once it has shed its outer covering known as the seed coat. This is the best time to thin radishes if the seeds were planted too thickly as the roots suffer the least disturbance during this period of growth. Radishes benefit from thinning, which provides them with enough space to grow as well as frequent watering and weeding during their short growing season.

Photosynthesis

• As the radish's taproot penetrates more deeply into the soil, smaller fibrous side roots grow laterally from it. The roots begin to absorb moisture and nutrients that they send up through the developing stem to the leaves. As the leaves multiply and expand, they begin absorbing the sunlight they need to manufacture food for the plant, which evolves into sugars and starches. This process is called photosynthesis, and it supplies enough food to nourish both the radish leaves and roots.

Root Growth

• As the radish leaves grow, they start sending most of the starches created during photosynthesis back down to the root, causing it to swell. The tissues located along the central point, or axis, of the radish root grow and expand, and the cells in that area continue to divide and grow for roughly 40 days. As the radish root enlarges, a tiny remnant of the taproot remains to continue absorbing moisture and nutrients from the soil.

Flowering

• A radish is ready to pick when it measures roughly no more than 1 inch in diameter. If left in the soil, the root dries, cracks and become inedible, but the leaves continue growing up to 2 feet. Flower buds develop and eventually produce seeds contained in small pods that emerge at the ends of the stems.