Radish Bolting
 

This is what happens when you leave a Radish too long.

Garf, and if you leave it even longer, you will get tasty little radish seed pods for your salad!

I just had to cut all my mustard greens down and my cilantro is already bolting. This usually waits til April but the weather has been unusually warm.

Wow! I'm jealous...we're still having weather in the minus 20s and 30s. Anyone want some snow? Would be happy to send some your way :)

And if you grow what's known as Rat Tail Radish you get much more tastier seed pods b'c this variety doesn't form typical inground radishes. But you pick those long pods when they're green, you don't let them ripen up to brown.

[QUOTE=salix;202913]Garf, and if you leave it even longer, you will get tasty little radish seed pods for your salad![/QUOTE]Like these? How big do these get?

That looks like about the optimal size for them. As soon as they show a bit of yellow or white on the pod, they will be too tough.

Those pods look like they only set 1 or 2 seeds. Sometimes they will be longer if they set more seeds.

They will have the texture of sugar snap peas but with a mildly radish flavor. Great in salads or stir fries.

Carol

[quote=salix;202913]Garf, and if you leave it even longer, you will get tasty little radish seed pods for your salad![/quote]

the young seed pods are great! but do get woody quick.

[quote=carolyn137;203067]And if you grow what's known as Rat Tail Radish you get much more tastier seed pods b'c this variety doesn't form typical inground radishes. But you pick those long pods when they're green, you don't let them ripen up to brown.[/quote]

I find Rat Tail to be a bit too spicy for me, I prefer the regular Radish, it's just a bit sweeter.

As a heirloom vegetable seed grower i grow 25 different lines, three of those are radishes (White icicle,Cherry Belle and Black Spanish),one each year.Part of the selection process i follow is to encourage individual plants that have tendencies to early bolt that way they can be pulled out,thus maintaining a strong biannual seed line.

How its done is i sow seed late spring /early summer,any earlier and all of them will bolt,later and none will before winter,sown at the right time of year and i can expect to pull out about 20% as early bolters, size and colour are also selected on before letting the crop flower in the following spring.