RADISH
Almost every part of the radish plant is useful. The leaves and roots may be eaten raw or
cooked as vegetable, or cooked with meat or fish.
Besides its use as food, radish is also used in many other ways; its oil doesn’t dry up like
ordinary oil. This is used in soap making; the meat after extraction is used as fertilizer. Radish
is also for diseases of the liver and spleen.
There are two kinds of radish. One is planted for its crop and the other for its leaves and roots.
The different varieties we have are:
Japanese radish – big and long, late harvested
Chinese radish – fine, smooth and white, productive and has moderate length of time for harvest
White icicle – early harvest, rounded, long with small roots.
Bombay, 60 Days and others – can harvest within 100 days from planting, and mature 30 days from germination.
LAND PREPARATION
1. Plow and harrow the field lengthwise and crosswise , and leave it for seven days to allow
the uprooted weeds to rot and their seeds to grow.
2. Plow and harrow as before, repeat a third time but deeper.
3. Make elevated beds about one-half meter away from each other.
4. Put fertilizer where plants will be grown; mix this with the soil by means of rake.
PLANTING
A hectare of land would accommodate about 100 grams of seeds. Apply a kerosene can of
compost before planting (see no.8).
1. Treat the seeds first in growth regulator like “Seet Treat”.
2. Mix one teaspoon Orthocide 50 WP per kilo of seeds to check whatever diseases they may
have.
3. Prepare the planting of the seeds. To make them evenly apart, use a string attached to both
ends- one at 10 cm, a second at 40 cm, etc.
4. With the aid of a pointed stick, make a hole one and a half (1 1/2) cm deep and 10 cm
apart, following the distance of the string.
5. Drop two seeds in each hole and cover with fine soil. Water with fine spray so as not to
dislodge the seeds or remove the top soil.
6. Cover with straw about 5-10 cm thick between the rows of plants with space of about 5 cm
from the plant. Don’t cover the speed especially if it has not germinated. Keep away chicken
from scratching the seeds away. The straw or dried leaves serve to protect the plants from
strong rain or intense heat and from growing weeds.
7. Water morning and afternoon in the first three(3) days after planting; don’t allow them to get
dry . When the seeds germinate, water only in the morning. Ten days after all have
germinated, water only in the afternoon when the ground is dry.
8. Dig the canal around the plot about 30 cm wide and 40 cm deep to where the water will run
in case of heavy rain.
9. Before planting, mix a can of compost to every 2 sq. meters of plot. If animal manure will be
used apply this after the first flowing: one can per sq. meter. If chemical fertilizer will be used,
have the soil analyzed first at the Bureau of Soils Laboratory. If not, the National Food and
Agricultural Council recommends 8 bags of ammonium sulfate for every hectare of radish
plants.
Source: tekno tulong