Star Wars Garden Gnome Daikon Equally Clay Reason Amendment (And Tasty Vegetable)!

Daikon foliage, pre-deer (the stems coming out of the daikon at the bottom of the photograph are genuinely from some other annual - redwhisker clammyweed - that was growing inwards the same surface area where I scattered the daikon seeds)

In the U.S., when nosotros recall of radishes, many of us recall of the cute picayune blood-red skinned radishes.

I similar those picayune reds every bit much every bit the side yesteryear side guy, but allow me tell yous something - they practise non thrive on heavy clay. And yesteryear 'do non thrive', I hateful that when I tried growing them, most of them failed to railroad train anything resembling the round, bulbous shape that the give-and-take 'radish' conjures. It was an abject disappointment.

But daikon radishes - sometimes known every bit cultivation radish - is inwards a unlike category altogether. In fact, daikon radishes are thus renowned for their mightiness to penetrate compacted clay soils that some people purpose them every bit a wintertime encompass crop to aerate the soil (example Delta Farm Press). Note that if you're growing it to better the soil, the thought is non to harvest the radish, but to allow it to wintertime kill too and thus decay inwards the soil.

Daikon foliage, post-deer (or perchance post-rabbit)

Having only removed some shrubs from a garden bed, I had some bare soil inwards September too no theatre thought what I wanted to institute at that topographic point yet. I thought I'd practise a trial planting of daikon to reckon (a) if it could brand a skillful encompass crop too (b) if I could instruct whatever sizeable radishes from the bed for eating.

I move on to relish eating daikon radish, for event sliced too added on top of a salad.

I sowed the seeds (from Sow True Seeds) inwards September, gave them a duo drinks of H2O to instruct started too and thus basically left them lone to fend for themselves during 2 months of severe drought that followed.

How did they fare?

Color me impressed. As a encompass crop, daikon produced a overnice caput of leaves that sheltered the soil too blocked weeds. (The leaves are also edible, fyi.)

And the roots genuinely did create out to penetrate the hard-as-concrete parched clay soil. In fact, the soil was thus tight that I had to H2O the plants only to trace some of the radishes without having them pause inwards the middle.

A duo of daikon radishes pulled from the concrete, er... clay, soil

Now, it's truthful that my radishes did non accomplish the mammoth portions of ones grown inwards sandy-loamy soils. In Japan, where daikon radishes are quite popular, the roots tin easily hold out 12 inches long with the diameter of a baseball game bat. My daikons were alone nigh one-third that size, but consider their growing surround too the lack of pelting (which would in all likelihood convey softened the soil too allowed the daikon origin to expand deeper too wider), I was quite impressed too pleased with their performance.

How was the taste? I was expecting that the lack of pelting would convey made the radishes hot too spicy, too indeed the showtime daikon I ate was almost also hot to handle, but the subsequent ones I consumed mostly had only plenty bite.

Sliced daikon makes a lovely salad topping

I did run across 2 problems - deer too rabbits.

The daikon leaves seemed mainly untouched inwards slow October, but throughout November, I saw to a greater extent than too to a greater extent than plant eater impairment (and telltale deer droppings scattered or thus the backyard pointed to the culprits). I figured the deer shouldered all the blame, but slow inwards November, I spotted a well-fed bunny scampering from the radish patch, thus I'm dividing the blame with both types of critters.

Still, I can't blame them also much. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 nearby woods has been mostly clear-cut this summer, too the drought meant that much surviving wild vegetation was parched, dead or dormant. Finding this greenish salad bar inwards my backyard in all likelihood seemed similar quite a process - maybe fifty-fifty a life-saving 1 - for the critters.

I saved some seed too promise to endeavor in 1 lawsuit to a greater extent than inwards the spring. If nosotros convey normal rainfall this wintertime (the final calendar week has been promising), hopefully at that topographic point volition hold out plenty of other wild greens for the local herbivores to eat too I'll instruct a lead chances to reckon how the daikon fare without beingness denuded of their foliage. (Neither the rabbits nor the deer touched the radish root, thus technically I could however dig upwards too eat some of the daikons, but I recall I'll allow them decompose over the wintertime to assistance the soil.)

Overall, I'd tell this experiment was quite fun, tasty too successful. So much so, that I excogitation to grow a lot to a greater extent than daikon inwards the future. And for whatever other gardeners out at that topographic point stuck with heavy compacted clay - consider giving daikon radishes a try!