#raphanus sativus

Raphanus raphanistrum, Brassicaceae

Here pictured is a yellow-flowered wild radish, often confused with yellow mustard (Sinapis alba, in the same family), growing on the banks of the river Clyde, in Glasgow, and naturalised in many areas of the world. At first sight, looking at the flowers and leaves, I actually thought this was yellow mustard myself, but the peculiar siliquae, which narrow visibly in the space between the seeds, made me think twice.

It turned out that, although wild radish flowers generally range in shade from white to purple, with evident darker veins, there are areas where the yellow-flowered variation is the most common. The seed capsule seem to confirm my guess too and I’ve kept some for propagation. Going by subspecies things can get harder as members of the genus hybridise easily and intermediate plants can be quite ambiguous. Due to the flower colour and seed capsules, the one above looks more like R. raphanistrum ssp. landra, the Italian wild radish, than R. raphanistrum ssp. raphanistrum, the English wild radish, although I’m in Scotland. 

Because of the similar, but smaller edible taproot, R. raphanistrum is sometimes quoted as the ancestor of radish, R. sativus, domesticated in Europe before Roman times. Looking for more information on the subject I found a research paper about  the ancestry of cultivated radish. The results are interesting and seem to suggest radish, Italian wild radish and English wild radish are the closest related members of the genus, with the Italian variety being more closely related to radish than the English one. Further speculation suggests that R. sativus could descend from a third variety historically present in the eastern Mediterranean, where the species had started spreading to Europe from Asia.  

Today I’ve learnt a lot about radish, who would’ve known! 

Raphanus sativus

É uma das hortaliças mais rápidas da horta, com colheita em poucas semanas.

Função na horta

Produção rápida; ocupa espaços vazios; ajuda na sucessão de plantio; pode indicar a qualidade do solo superficial.

Como cuidar

☀️ Sol: sol pleno a meia-sombra, 4 a 6 horas por dia.

💧 Rega: 3 a 4 vezes por semana; mantenha o solo úmido para evitar raiz fibrosa.

🪴 Solo: leve, fofo, fértil e bem drenado.

↔️ Espaçamento: 5 a 8 cm entre plantas.

✂️ Poda: não precisa poda; retire folhas secas ou amareladas.

🌾 Adubação: antes do plantio e a cada 20 a 30 dias, com composto orgânico leve.

🧺 Colheita: colha no tempo certo, antes de ficar duro e muito picante.

Ao longo do ano

🌻 Verão: cresce rápido, mas pode ficar mais picante.

🍂 Outono: boa fase para cultivo.

❄️ Inverno: excelente fase por aqui.

🌷 Primavera: boa fase se colher cedo.

Problemas comuns