Recently in Russia the daikon is gaining increasing popularity - a useful and delicious root crop, so common in the Land of the Rising Sun. It has excellent taste qualities, is rich in cellulose, pectin, mineral substances (calcium, potassium) and vitamins (C, B1, B2, E, PP). Daikon is used for medicinal purposes in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and cold, and is also used as a preventive measure of diabetes. This juicy root is consumed in fresh, salted, stewed or boiled. His taste is more delicate than that of radish, it is sweet and sweet.
The main varieties of root vegetables are daikon. Cultivation and care
Classification of varieties is based on the form of the daikon and its position in the ground. Sweet radish can be of various shapes: conical, fusiform, cylindrical. In the central part of Russia, such varieties as the Fang of an elephant, Minovase, Sasha, Dubinushka, Miyasige, Tokinashi, etc. are the most common. If you want to grow a valuable and healthy vegetable on your site, choose a root called "daikon". Growing and caring for this culture does not require too much effort, and as a reward for diligence you will get a delicious, fragrant and well-kept fruit.
Sweet radish is a daikon. Planting and care of seedlings
Daikon prefers fertile loose loose sandy soil. It is desirable to allocate for the plant a solar section, since in the shadow its growth seriously slows down. Before sowing seeds, the soil is prepared: dig deep enough, and if necessary, fertilize with humus and compost. On such a soil, the daikon will feel good. When to plant it? The overwhelming number of varieties of these Japanese root crops are planted from the middle of June to the end of July. But there are plants planted later - in the first half of August. For planting, form beds (narrow and high) and, using a planar, make holes (about 10 cm deep). Further paving the way for the future daikon root - with a pin or fork "pierce" the substrate in the pit. It is advisable to add "Nitrofoska" fertilizer to the soil prepared for sowing seeds. Some gardeners use potassium salt, superphosphates and ammonium nitrate. Root seeds are placed in the holes at a distance of 20 cm from each other, and between the rows retreat 65 cm. After that, the planting material is watered from the watering can and heated up the soil (about 2 cm), slightly ramming it. Thus, landing daikon is not particularly difficult. All that is required of the gardener is to choose the right place, prepare and fertilize the soil, purchase seeds and sow them. And seedlings of Japanese radish will appear within 7 days. It is actively growing and rapidly gaining a deciduous mass.
Daikon: cultivation and care (watering and protection from pests)
This sweet radish adores moisture, so especially in droughty weather it should be watered abundantly. After this, you should gently loosen and weed the beds. Also, the daikon must be protected from pests. Most often root crops are affected by bedbugs, cabbage fly and cruciferous flea. In order to get rid of pests, wood ash can be used (dusting of plants). Daikon does not tolerate even small frosts (from -2 ° С to -3 ° С), it freezes and loses its taste qualities. Therefore, when cold weather sets in, it is necessary to protect root crops, covering them with non-woven material and film.
Daikon: cultivation and care. Harvesting and storage
This root is a very early-maturing plant that ripens in 50-70 days. For harvesting, choose an undemanding day, at the end of October or the first ten days of November. Dykon neatly undermine a pitchfork or a shovel, cleanse the soil and cut off the tops. They do not touch the spine. Roots of sweet radish are kept long enough (for 3 months), necessarily in a cellar or basement in moist sand. It is also convenient to keep daikon in cellophane bags in the refrigerator.