Radishes - Thinning

[Shellie]

What spacing you ya'll thin to for radishes? Mel says we can grow 16 in a 12x12" square but that'd be less than 1" per radish...typical thinning instructions on the seed packets say something like 3" but I know that's often overly conservative! I've got seedlings on top of seedlings so I'm gonna have to break down and thin. Or can I just leave them?

[Erinz]

If they are too close they won't grow well and will crowd each other out. I've accidently left 3 together and they just tend to get really tall and crack and get weird. Thin them out and add the greens to your salad tonight! A delicious solution!

[limette]

I plant seeds 2" apart, I don't do the thinning thing.

[Pepper44]

My DD helped me plant our radishes and carrots together outside. This has resulted in a thick patch of radishes and carrots. I was wondering about thinning too...

They're all sprouting nicely now. Here's a picture.

[Shellie]

Those look great, Pepper. And that's about how mine are...in fact, when they first started sprouting they looked like your's and then more and more kept coming. What can I say? My 5yo planted them mostly. LOL

So is the consensus that I should thin to what number of inches? Two inches?

And should I pull or pinch. Most have gotten their new leaves (what are those called...first true leaves?) so I better do it tomorrow!

[Owen'nZoe]

OK, I am not one who should be correcting anyone on their math , so forgive me if I'm off, but I think your calculation is wrong. 16 plants per square foot means that you'd be planting 4 rows of 4 radishes - which means each plant would be in the middle of its own 3 inch square, right?

That means there would be about 3 inches between each seedling, and that sounds like plenty to me.

[Shellie]

No, you're absolutely right. Big "duh" moment for me! LOL!!

Our radishes are sort of scattered because my 3 and 5yo planted the seeds so I don't have a grid, but yeah, you're right. For some reason I was thinking Mel was having us plant them 16 across, 16 down! LOL

I will (reluctantly) thin to 3" I hate to kill seedlings. Gah!

[Pepper44]

I might just leave mine close together and see what happens. I won't be heartbroken if they fail.

I keep thinking of the Little Homestead in the City blog and how dense they plant all of their things...they have great success!

[Shellie]

Thanks for that blog name--I'd never read particular one that but it's cool
(I am familiar with that family...love them!)!!

I still haven't thinned. I'll deal with it today. I don't mind dense planting but I have some that are all right on top of each other. And I'm so competetive with myself that it will drive me crazy if they fail. LOL

[librarybooks]

Radishes need a little space because they are developing those tuber roots, which is probably what you're growing them for, but I don't ever thin them as much as the package says - 1-2" for me is plenty. I do think, however, it depends on the type of radish - I generally grow smaller varieties, so they don't get crowded with very dense spacing. But some of the bigger varieties would do better with 3". I have gotten crazy results if I don't thin them enough, though!

I pinch them off, or trim with scissors so that I don't disturb the roots around them when I pull them out.