As Alice B. Toklas once said,
“The first gathering of salads, radishes and herbs made me feel like a mother about her baby – how could anything so beautiful be mine?”
Do you see how she pairs radish with salads and herbs? Call me an overthinker, but there is a reason here. Radishes befriend several vegetables and herbs. Plant a radish into the ground with other vegetables and herbs to see how it helps them grow. If you have ever been a fan of ‘everything organic’ for your plants, radishes are the real deal.
Companion planting is one of the best methods to save space and to grow healthier vegetables. Radish (any variety) is one of the best root vegetables to plant when looking to eliminate weeds sooner, increase soil fertility, have a nutrient-rich land, and cost-effectively grow healthier vegetables.
When planted with tomatoes and carrots, radishes help them develop better taste, growth, and texture.
Companion planting is quite an old and a time tested method. It helps protect vulnerable plants from pests and weeds. Moreover, certain minerals and nutrients in these primary vegetables help stimulate good insects and bacteria that aid in better development. It helps use the garden space efficiently and harvest more vegetables without compromising on their taste and texture. The diversity that companion planting harnesses is better for the soil and environment in general.
Radish Companions to Plant
Peas. These add nitrogen to the soil that helps thrive radish plants better.
Eggplants. It is a two-way street. Eggplants shade radishes from harsh heat while the radish plant, in turn, works as a repellent against pests and moths that attack eggplants.
Squash. Squash borers often move inside its steam and hinder the water flow killing the plant eventually. As natural pests repellents, radishes help prevent this attack.
Spinach. How often have we noticed pest eaten spinach leaves? If radishes grow around the spinach, they can prevent such attacks.
If this is what radishes can do to help other vegetables, one will need no other example to realize what they can do to help the human body. While this is a list of vegetables that can grow with various radish, what about herbs?
Here are some of the herbs to grow with the humble radish.
Chervil. This relative of parsley has an attractive scent and several benefits. Plant these next to radishes for better taste and growth.
Mint. Radishes help mint bloom better. Their beautiful scent lends a delicious flavor to the radishes.
Since radishes are hot, it is important to know which vegetables do not go with them. Some of those are potatoes and parsnips. Radishes cause more damage than repair to these set of vegetables.
One of the other vegetables that are usually not discussed with radishes is tomatoes. One presumes that radishes may damage tomatoes, but that is not the case. Tomatoes and basil are traditional partners for every dish, including the garden. Basils help tomatoes develop a better flavor as they grow. But while this happens, basils cannot protect tomatoes against pests. This is where radishes step in. Here are some of the things radishes can do to protect tomatoes.
As Pest Repellants. Radishes are brilliant pest repellants. This is particularly true of cucumber pests. If one is not careful, these tend to stunt the growth of the tomatoes from the root.
As Nutrients. Radishes lend organic nutrients to the soil. These, in turn, can help in the better growth of the tomatoes.
As Growth Promoters. Radishes promote better growth of all vegetables they grow with; tomatoes are no exception.
As Fertilizers. Since radishes are often planted to better soil health, they function as natural fertilizers for all vegetables around them.
While these are some of the benefits tomatoes can bask into while radishes circle round to protect them, one also needs to understand how these are planted together.
Early season tomatoes are ready for harvest within 50-60 days, midseason within 60-80 days, and end-season requires over 80 days. Radishes usually grow much faster than tomatoes (daikon may take longer).
Whichever season you choose to plant the tomato seeds, choose radish first. Plant radish seeds about five days before planting tomatoes. In this way, the radish seeds will be close to germination and form their roots by the time tomato seeds germinate. Also, plant the radish seeds at least 10 inches away from the tomatoes. You must avoid crowding under all circumstances. In most cases, the radishes may be ready to harvest a bit sooner than the tomatoes, but they will have done their job by then.
This is as far as tomatoes are concerned. If you may have noticed, the one vegetable radishes are often compared to daikon, especially the humble carrot. From their similar textures to their size and their growing time to their benefits, there is a lot common between daikon radishes and carrots. So much so that many deem them to be cousins!
One might then wonder if radishes and carrots can grow together. They can, and we bring you some of the reasons why this might work well.
- Growing radishes and carrots together saves space.
- It helps mark rows to minimize weeds.
- They help repel certain pests and insects.
- They help better soil quality.
Now that some of the benefits are in place, one can walk through the process/planting of these two together.
- Make a furrow in the garden to make a row for the radishes and carrots.
- Mix radish and carrots seeds in a bowl.
- Sprinkle the seeds on to the furrow.
- Cover them with some soil.
- Water the seeds regularly.
- Ensure they have enough sunlight to grow.
- Since radishes grow faster, you can use them as markers to spot the weeds.
- Chop off the weeds so that they do not interfere with the carrots for the nutrients.
- Radishes will be ready within 35-40 days after planting. Carrots will take another 30-35 days.
- Hold the radish heads with your hands and pull them up.
- Be gentle so that you do not end up damaging the carrots.
What radishes do is level the soil for the carrots. They help spot the weeds and kill pests and bugs. This helps the carrots grow better as they do not have to compete with any weeds for nutrients. Also, radishes take very little nutrients from the soil. They also help loosen the soil, which benefits the carrots as they have more space to grow.
Since radish roots can go as deep as three inches with the largest part of the root, the tuber, going as long as 12 inches, they prevent soil erosion and damage. When radishes are harvested, they leave the soil more fertile and with air pockets. This helps air and water travel deeper, ultimately increasing soil fertility.
Moreover, radishes are highly decomposable. This nature makes them the perfect companion for other vegetables that needs better nutrients for growth.
Conceptually, companion planting is the most organic way to grow healthier vegetables in less space. One does not need to compromise on the quality at all. It does require some research on which vegetables can grow together, but it is worth the time and much cheaper.
Before You Plant
While radishes have umpteen benefits, they are not well-suited with all vegetables. Be careful about the effect they may have on vegetables such as parsnips, potatoes, and others. In such cases, plant radish seeds first, grow out, harvest, and plant other seeds. This way, radishes will leave the soil with better nutrients for the next lot.
While enough is discussed about the benefits radishes, lend to other vegetables, remember that this can only happen once they are healthy. Radishes need more sunlight and regular water, do that and watch them take over their companions’ care.
