When to clean daikon? How to store daikon?

Daycon - the plant is exotic, it is not very popular on Russian gardens. And completely in vain. This vegetable has a low calorie content, it is universal in cooking (it can be boiled, fried, stewed or consumed in fresh form), easy to grow, improves the work of the stomach and intestines, has antiseptic properties, helps purify the liver and kidneys. From daikon it is possible to prepare excellent salads, which will be especially liked by those who adhere to a diet.

If you know how and when to clean the daikon, then you can easily provide yourself with this useful vegetable for the whole winter. In addition, it has a high yield.

Daikon: description

Translated from Japanese, this root is literally called the "big root". It has a long cylindrical shape and resembles a carrot rather than a radish, which is a relative. The size can reach truly gigantic, in our soils it is easy to grow a root crop weighing 4-5 kg. The taste is tender enough, without sharpness and bitterness, not like a radish. Daikon, the photo of which is presented below, has a rounded shape, but to taste it does not differ from the cylindrical one and it can reach huge sizes too, the only negative is that it is not very convenient to store.

How to choose a daikon variety?

Now the stores provide a very wide selection of seeds, preference is best given to those varieties that are bred by domestic breeders. They have better survival and fitness to our climatic conditions. All varieties can be divided into three groups, depending on when to clean the daikon. They can be early, early and late. The first group reaches maturity in 40-50 days. When you remove the daikon from the garden, it is usually indicated on the sachet of seeds. For storage, of course, it is best to choose late varieties. Of the most popular cylindrical "club", "minivan", "fang elephant", "big bull". They are all medium-ripening. The spherical form of the root crop is "sasha".

How to grow a daikon?

The period of cultivation until full ripening averages 60-70 days. Seeding is best done in the middle of summer, in July. The soil must be light and fertile. Remember that the vegetable is large enough and will require a lot of space. The soil needs to be thoroughly digged, add humus and superphosphate (40 g per square meter). If you do not want to thin the garden afterwards, it is best to sow the seeds one at a time, at a distance of 10 centimeters, between the rows you should leave the place to 0.5 meters. So it will be more convenient to water, loosen plants and easily recognize the time when to harvest the daikon. You can put three seeds in one hole for a safety net, then at the stage of two leaves it will be necessary to leave the largest plant, pull out the remaining ones or transplant it to another place. If the daikon is planted too early, then most likely it will go into the arrow and bloom. Due to the fact that this plant is a short daylight, therefore it is desirable to plant daikon in the second half of summer.

Watering and top dressing

Daikon does not like waterlogging, but it will also be bad in drought. Therefore, in this issue the main thing is moderation. Watering with fertilizer must be carried out after the appearance of three real leaves. Use for this purpose is best infusion of mullein and urea.

Diseases and pests

The very first and main enemy is the cruciferous flea, it damages the leaves very badly. To scare away, use ashes, which are sprinkled with moist soil on the bed. To prevent her appearance, many gardeners recommend planting daikon along with onions. This can be done in staggered order. In May, it is necessary to plant the onion at a distance of 20 cm from each other. And after 1-1.5 months, plant daikon seeds. By this time, the green onion will noticeably grow, the odor of which surprisingly frightens off the pest. You can also use infusion of hot red pepper for watering.

Another lovers of daikon are wireworms. They significantly damage the flesh of the root crop, making numerous holes, such vegetables will be practically unsuitable for storage. It is very difficult to get rid of the wireworm, as, as a rule, all the soil on the site becomes infected.

A wireworm is a larva of a click beetle. To destroy it, you need to plant legumes and mustard after the main crop is harvested from the site. The introduction of coniferous needles into the soil in spring. The late autumn plowing of the garden is also effective, when frosts begin already. This contributes to the destruction of the larvae.

Radish daikon: when to clean?

Harvesting is carried out depending on the variety in 40-70 days. Late-ripening varieties must be cleaned after the establishment of cold dry weather, but before frost. If the temperature falls below zero, then the root crops, at least the ground, protruding part, will be damaged. In the future this will prevent long-term storage. Therefore, it is important for each variety to know its time - when to clean the daikon. If the soil is heavy, then pull out the tops can not, too long root will break. In this case, you need to carefully dig it with a shovel or fork.

After that, the dyke must be allowed to lie on the air so that the land that remained on it is dried and crumbled. But do not keep the vegetable under direct sunlight, it may start to flab.

How to store daikon?

For better preservation, you need to choose the best root crops, without damages, streaks, cracks, smooth and smooth. Therefore it is important to know how and when to remove the daikon from the bed. Cut the crop with a pair of scissors. Prepare a large river sand, sift it. Large wooden boxes are required. Dyke to lay in even rows and pour each layer abundantly with sand. Store boxes in the basement at a temperature not lower than zero, but not more than 5 degrees Celsius, and low humidity. If the vegetable is too large and can not be used at a time, it can be placed in a bag and stored on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. If you know how to store the daikon correctly, observe the thermal regime and humidity, then the root crop must be at least three months old.