When to Plant Radishes in the UK

On this page
  1. Radish (Raphanus sativus)
  2. Regional Planting Calendar
  3. Quick Facts
  4. At a Glance
  5. Salad Radish or Winter Radish: Which Should You Sow?
  6. Soil & Growing Conditions
  7. Growth Stages
  8. Harvest & Storage
  9. How Do You Know When to Pull a Radish?
  10. Diseases
  11. Pests
  12. Companion Planting
  13. Radish, Sown to Pulled
  14. Plan your Radishes planting
  15. Growing Radish in another region
  16. References
  17. Frequently Asked Questions
  18. Radishes in brief: the short answer

In the UK, radishes go in the ground early March to late September, and are ready to harvest 25–56 days after planting.

Timing is the decision that matters most in the UK: sowing early March, and that same window applies across all 4 regions covered here.

The short answer

Plant
Early March to late September
Ready in
25–56 days
Site
6+ hours of sun, soil pH 6–7
Biggest risk
Club root

Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.

Radish (Raphanus sativus)

A raised vegetable bed covered with fine insect mesh over canes, radishes growing among other crops beneath — “Radish Raphanus sativus raised bed Harmony Gardens Broadwater Farm Estate Haringey London England 01” by Acabashi is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons

9 sources cited · Verified

Regional Planting Calendar

Region Sow
Southern England derived early March to late September
Midlands derived early March to late September
Northern England derived early March to late September
Scotland derived early March to late September

Rows marked derived are interpolated between regions our sources do state, because no source we consulted gives a figure for that region specifically. They are deliberately wider to reflect that uncertainty.

Southern England - detail & sources

UK-wide baseline (not yet region-differentiated): Ready 4–6 weeks after sowing; winter types (mooli, Black Spanish) sown Jul–Aug.

Midlands - detail & sources

UK-wide baseline (not yet region-differentiated): Ready 4–6 weeks after sowing; winter types (mooli, Black Spanish) sown Jul–Aug.

Northern England - detail & sources

UK-wide baseline (not yet region-differentiated): Ready 4–6 weeks after sowing; winter types (mooli, Black Spanish) sown Jul–Aug.

Scotland - detail & sources

UK-wide baseline (not yet region-differentiated): Ready 4–6 weeks after sowing; winter types (mooli, Black Spanish) sown Jul–Aug.

A page from the UK Vegetable Garden Planner PDF: the crop rotation planner, with a planning grid and four-bed rotation tips

Plan your radishes — and the rest of the plot

This page covers radishes. For every crop's sowing months on one chart, use the free UK vegetable planting calendar, and browse the UK vegetable growing guides for what else to grow alongside it. When you want the whole season on paper, the UK Vegetable Garden Planner is a printable PDF:

  • Twelve month-by-month sowing and harvest spreads
  • Raised bed, allotment and container layout pages for your own plot
  • A four-year crop rotation planner
  • Seed inventory, sowing log and harvest tracker
See inside the UK Vegetable Garden Planner →

80 printable pages · instant PDF download · reprint every season

Quick Facts

A handful of freshly pulled small red radishes with soil still on the roots — “Freshly harvested radishes from a home garden held by a hand during a sunny day in early summer” by Shixart1985 is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons
“Freshly harvested radishes from a home garden held by a hand during a sunny day in early summer” by Shixart1985 is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Factor Value
Soil pH 6 - 7
Sunlight 6-10 hours direct sun
Germination temp 7°C
Optimal growing temp 12-26°C
Minimum survivable temp 10°C
Time to harvest 25-56 days
Drainage RHS: "Choose an open, sunny site, although light shade is acceptable for salad radishes in midsummer"; prepare soil to a fine texture and remove stones.
Lifecycle hardy annual; withstands heavy frosts in spring and autumn
Edible parts roots, leaves (winter and oriental types), seed pods (edible-podded types)

At a Glance

Raphanus sativus Radish Club root Cabbage root fly (US: c… Cabbage caterpillars Flea beetles Cabbage looper Diamondback moth caterp… Cutworms DISEASES PESTS

Salad Radish or Winter Radish: Which Should You Sow?

"Radish" covers two genuinely different crops. Salad (summer) radish is sown shallow -- about 1cm deep, 2.5-5cm apart -- germinates in 7-10 days, and can be ready to pull in as little as four weeks. Winter and oriental types (daikon, mooli and similar) are sown deeper, at 2cm, spaced much further apart at 15-20cm, and take at least eight weeks to build a far larger root over a longer season (RHS).

Both share the same broad sowing window, so the choice is about what you want: quick, continuous salad pickings, or a bigger root that stores. Because salad radish matures so fast, sow small batches every few weeks rather than one large sowing -- that keeps a continuous harvest coming instead of one glut followed by a gap.

Soil & Growing Conditions

Water: RHS: "Keep the soil consistently moist" and water "during any dry spells". Univ. of Maryland: "keep evenly moist but not wet".

Soil pH range

6 7

Span reflects genuine variation between the cited authorities, not a single agreed figure.

Growth Stages

Stage BBCH Notes
Sowing & germination 0 Salad radish: sow 1cm deep, 2.5-5cm apart, rows 15cm apart; germinates in 7-10 days. Winter/oriental types: sow 2cm deep, 15-20cm apart. RHS.
Root development 4 Salad radishes swell to about 2.5cm diameter; winter/oriental types build a much larger root over a longer period. RHS.
Harvest 8 Salad radish ready in as little as four weeks (six to eight weeks for early sowings); winter/oriental types take at least eight weeks. Pull young and eat fresh while crunchy -- left too long, or grown too slowly, roots turn pithy, hot and inedible. RHS.
Succession sowing 0 Because radish matures so fast, sow small batches every few weeks rather than one large sowing, to keep continuous harvests coming instead of a single glut. RHS.

Harvest & Storage

When to pick: RHS: salad radishes are ready at "about 2.5cm (1in) in diameter". Univ. of Maryland: "Harvest spring radishes when they are about one inch in diameter, depending on the cultivar, and before they crack, become pithy, or too hot".

Storage

Univ. of Maryland: "Wash, dry, and place in plastic bags. Cool (32 degrees -40 degrees F), moist (95% RH) conditions; 1 to 2 weeks". RHS: winter radishes may be "stored in a fridge or similarly cool place".

How Do You Know When to Pull a Radish?

Watch the shoulder, not the calendar. RHS gives salad radish as ready at about 2.5cm (1in) in diameter; University of Maryland Extension independently gives the same figure -- "about one inch in diameter, depending on the cultivar" -- and adds the real warning: pull before roots crack, turn pithy, or get too hot to enjoy. A root grown too slowly, or left too long, goes from crisp to woody and unpleasantly sharp.

In practice that means checking the shoulder -- the top of the root, visible where it swells at the soil surface -- rather than waiting for a fixed number of weeks. Once it reaches roughly golf-ball width for a salad type, it is ready to pull.

Diseases

Plasmodiophora brassicae

RHS names radishes explicitly among club root hosts.

Pests

Cabbage root fly (US: cabbage maggot)

Delia radicum

RHS names radish explicitly among affected root crops.

Cabbage caterpillars

Pieris brassicae; Pieris rapae; Pieris napi; Mamestra brassicae; Plutella xylostella

Covered by the RHS phrase "All edible brassicas".

Flea beetles
high

Chrysomelidae: Alticini (various spp.)

Small chewing beetles with powerful hind legs that leap away when disturbed, shot-holing the leaves. Clemson notes they are "most problematic on mustard and turnips" -- the brassicas without the waxy leaf coating that…

Cabbage looper
medium

Trichoplusia ni

Named by Clemson on radish -- a reminder that radish is a brassica and shares the cole crops' caterpillars, which is also why it belongs in a brassica rotation rather than with the other root crops.

Diamondback moth caterpillar
medium

Plutella xylostella

Named by Clemson on radish. Small, but the most serious brassica caterpillar; the tell is a window-pane effect where the underside is eaten and the upper leaf surface left intact.

Cutworms
medium

Noctuidae

Seedlings cut off cleanly at ground level overnight. A collar pushed into the soil around each seedling is the reliable control.

Companion Planting

avoid shared disease

Brassica oleracea Capitata Group

Both crops are documented hosts of Club root. These pathogens persist in soil for many years -- RHS gives up to 20 years for club root resting spores, at least 15 years for allium white rot sclerotia, and advises a five-year gap before replanting onions or shallots after downy mildew -- so the two…

avoid shared disease

Brassica napus Napobrassica Group

Both crops are documented hosts of Club root. These pathogens persist in soil for many years -- RHS gives up to 20 years for club root resting spores, at least 15 years for allium white rot sclerotia, and advises a five-year gap before replanting onions or shallots after downy mildew -- so the two…

avoid shared disease

Brassica rapa Rapifera Group

Both crops are documented hosts of Club root. These pathogens persist in soil for many years -- RHS gives up to 20 years for club root resting spores, at least 15 years for allium white rot sclerotia, and advises a five-year gap before replanting onions or shallots after downy mildew -- so the two…

avoid shared disease

Brassica oleracea Gemmifera Group

Both crops are documented hosts of Club root. These pathogens persist in soil for many years -- RHS gives up to 20 years for club root resting spores, at least 15 years for allium white rot sclerotia, and advises a five-year gap before replanting onions or shallots after downy mildew -- so the two…

avoid shared disease

Brassica oleracea Acephala Group

Plasmodiophora brassicae produces resting spores that contaminate the soil and remain viable for many years, so any brassica following an infected crop is re-infected from the ground itself. Keep every brassica -- including radish, swede and turnip, which gardeners often forget are brassicas --…

avoid shared disease

Brassica oleracea Italica Group

Plasmodiophora brassicae produces resting spores that contaminate the soil and remain viable for many years, so any brassica following an infected crop is re-infected from the ground itself. Keep every brassica -- including radish, swede and turnip, which gardeners often forget are brassicas --…

avoid shared disease

Brassica oleracea Botrytis Group

Plasmodiophora brassicae produces resting spores that contaminate the soil and remain viable for many years, so any brassica following an infected crop is re-infected from the ground itself. Keep every brassica -- including radish, swede and turnip, which gardeners often forget are brassicas --…

Plan your Radishes planting

When to sow and plant Radishes depends on your own frost dates. Check the UK vegetable planting calendar, or the month-by-month guides that cover Radishes: March, May, June, July, August. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.

Growing Radish in another region

Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.

References

  1. Diamondback moth is "the most serious insect pest of brassica crops in South Carolina", leaving a window-pane appearance where the upper leaf surface stays intact. Damage is quantified relative to each other: one cabbage looper does roughly the damage of 5 diamondback moth larvae, and imported cabbageworm about two-thirds of a looper. Cross-striped cabbageworm hatches in masses and can rapidly skeletonise a plant, dropping to pupate just under the soil surface. Cabbage webworm damages buds and growing points, causing lateral budding. Cabbage aphids are commoner in cool autumn weather. Flea beetles are most problematic on mustard and turnips, which lack the protective waxy coating.

9 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will radishes grow back every year?

No. Radishes are pulled young, in as little as four weeks, so the RHS advises sowing small batches every few weeks for a continuous supply rather than relying on one sowing.

What is the trick to growing radishes?

Keep the soil consistently moist for rapid, even growth, sow at least 2.5cm (1in) apart so thinning isn't needed, and pull the roots young, at about 2.5cm (1in) across. Left too large or old, or grown slowly, they become pithy, hot and inedible (RHS).

Plan next season before the problems start

Most of the advice on this page comes down to timing and spacing — sowing at the right moment, rotating beds, and giving plants enough airflow. The UK Garden Planner lays your plot out month by month so those decisions are already made before the season starts.

Get the UK Garden Planner →

Instant PDF download · Written for UK growing conditions

SoilCommander Editorial Team — under the direction of Nitin Sharma, Co-Founder

Every growing guide is checked against RHS, USDA Cooperative Extension, and other named horticultural authorities before publishing.

How this guide is put together

The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against RHS and Met Office guidance. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.

Vegetable Growing Guides UK

Crops With the Same Problems

Related Problem Guides

Last verified 2026-08-06

Quick answer

Radishes in brief: the short answer

To grow radishes in the UK, sow small batches directly into moist soil from spring through late summer, keep the rows evenly watered, and harvest while roots are still young and crisp. Radishes are one of the fastest beginner vegetables, but they become woody, hot, or split if they dry out or sit too long before picking.

Best timing Sow little and often from spring, then repeat every couple of weeks for steady harvests.
Best soil Use fine, stone-free soil or compost so the roots can swell quickly without forking.
Best habit Harvest promptly. Radishes are quick crops, not vegetables to leave in the ground for months.
Watch radishes grown in a crate

The radish video is useful for small-space growers because it shows how quick crops can fit into crates, containers and tight UK garden spaces.

Watch the radish video on YouTube

Check when to plant radishes in the UK for timing windows. For succession sowing and quick crops, use the UK Vegetable Garden Planner PDF to record sowing dates, harvest dates, and gaps between crops.

Relevant next steps

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