The Long Radish Kaleidoscope Remix

Long cylindrical radish in a kaleidoscope of  pink, violet, red, black, green and white.  Only plant after mid-July.

This is a variety developed by Tourne-Sol. It is an evolving plant population with a lot of genetic diversity. That means the plants are not uniform and they don’t all look the same.  They are all edible, beautiful and delicious.

Crop Species: Raphanus sativus

Crop Family: Brassicaceae

Seed Story

The Long Radish Kaleidoscope Remix 

This is the second Tourne-Sol winter radish breeding project

I took radishes from our Black Crimson Amethyst genepool and planted them beside some Green Luobo radish. 

All the radishes went to flower.

Pollinators pollinated. 

And Green Luobo genes were added to the genepool.

Green Luobo is a long cylindrical radish. The outside is green at the top and white at the bottom. The inside is also green at the top too and white at the bottom.

I especially wanted to add that green into the genepool. I wanted a black radish to reveal green flesh inside.

But that hasn’t quite worked out so far. Some of the radishes have had a bit of green but never as vibrant as Green Luobo.

What did come through though was the cylindrical shape. We’ve been selecting for long radishes and eating the round radishes.

So, these radishes are a kaleidoscope of amethyst, crimson, white, black, and a bit of green

A full colour explosion for crudité platters everywhere!

HOW TO HARVEST

Pull a couple of radishes to see if they have sized up. If they haven’t yet sized up, wait a couple more days. Radishes can easily be pulled by hand. Rub or rinse off the dirt.

HOW TO GROW

Planting Information

• Luminosity: Full Sun
• Seed Depth: 1cm (1/2")
• Germination Temperature:20C (68F)
• Days to Germination: 3-4 days
• Earliest Planting Date: Mid July 
• Latest Planting Date: Mid August
• Days to maturity: 56  days
• Harvest period: late September - early November

Directions for Direct Seeding:

HOW TO KEEP SEEDS

• Harvest radishes in the fall and store through the winter
• Harvest and select your best radishes. Remove some of the outer leaves but leave some small leaves.
• Replant in your garden in 2 rows spaced 60cm (24”) apart. Plant radishes 15cm to 30cm apart in the row.
• Trellis radishes to support them.
• Radish seed pods will be ready in mid August.
• Harvest mature seed pods and put in a protected area for the pods to keep drying
• Crush the pods when they are dry.
• Screen to separate chaff
• Winnow out chaff with a fan.
• Store seeds in a dry area