The Best Types of Radishes to Grow at Home

Radish Varieties You've Got to Try Growing at Home

If you were to look around the produce aisle in your grocery store, you might see one type of radish—the classic globe-shaped red radish with the pointed tip. Some grocery stores have finally started carrying daikon radishes, too.

It would be understandable to conclude that there were, therefore, only a couple types of radishes in existence.

There are actually more than 100 radish types. There are black radishes, yellow radishes, white radishes. There are radishes with hot green flesh. Radishes that can grow 2 feet long. Radishes that taste nothing like radishes.

For most of these radish varieties, you'll just have to grow your own if you want to experience their unique flavor and texture.

Since picking from dozens of seeds can be overwhelming, here are my favorite types to get you started, including the one type of radish that I think everyone should grow.

French Breakfast Radishes Are My Top Radish Variety to Grow

Before I discovered French breakfast radishes, I had all but sworn off ever growing radishes again. I just wasn't having any luck, even though every other gardener I knew insisted that radishes are the easiest thing to grow ever.

My streak of bad radish luck ended when I planted my first pack of French breakfast radish seeds. French breakfast radishes have skinny taproots that fade from the most beautiful shade of reddish pink to white at the very bottom. Because the roots are so thin (typically not even 1" wide), you can really pack these radishes in your raised beds. This is also a container-friendly variety since roots grow just 3" to 4" long.

These little roots will be ready to harvest in just 28 to 30 days, and I also love them in the kitchen thanks to their delicate peppery flavor that I find more appetizing.

If you're looking to grow radishes, I highly recommend starting here with my tried and true favorites.

Daikon Radishes Are the Best Type to Grow in Heavy Soil

When I first set up my kitchen garden here in Nashville, I realized very quickly that the soil I ordered was not great. Everything I planted was slow and stunted. I remembered reading that daikon radishes are great for breaking up compacted soil, so I figured I'd give them a try.

Another thing I found appealing about daikons is that they're not nearly as spicy as other varieties. I don't love that mustardy flavor of typical radishes. Daikons are almost mild enough to eat like a potato. I ended up making "French fries" with my daikon harvest, but you can also pickle them or cook them.

Daikon radishes—also called Japanese radishes and Chinese turnips—need about 50 to 60 days to go from tiny seed to huge, nutritious root. The roots are very long (they're best when harvested between 12" to 18") and usually cylindrical and white. Harvesting root crops is always a treat—it's kind of like a game of hide-and-seek because you never know exactly what you're going to find—but daikons are extra fun because you could pull up a real beast of a root.

I did grow my daikons in a raised bed that was only 12 inches tall, so I went ahead and harvested them a little early, when they were about 6" to 7" long. Most of them looked more like white carrots instead of getting really thick like classic daikons. You'll need to have even deeper raised beds if you want to be able to grow your daikons to maturity. (I'm sure you've already guessed these are not container friendly.)

So why should you grow daikons? They're good for your soil, they're not as spicy, and they're not that difficult to grow. I think I'm proof of that because I'm not very good at growing radishes. They're also packed with vitamins. One 7-inch daikon radish will give you 125 percent of your daily vitamin C.

Easter Egg Radishes Are the Best Radish Type to Grow with Kids

These little guys taste like your typical red radish but grow in shades of red, pink, white, and purple, so it's really fun to pull them up and see what color has been hidden under the soil the past month.

Easter eggs grow about 1" long and are shaped like little globes with their South Pole pinched. They're great for containers and ready to harvest in just 30 days.

Watermelon Radishes Are the Best Radishes for a Sweeter Flavor

Watermelon radishes don't look like much with their green and white skin, but they're gorgeous on the inside with their hot pink centers.

Watermelons grow wide, maxing out at about 4" in diameter, and it'll take them a good 60 to 65 days to turn themselves into pretty little baseballs. They don't grow too deep, so you can place these in containers as long as they're pretty wide (otherwise you'll be able to fit like 3 radishes).

Watermelon radishes are sweet with only a mild pepper flavor. Juniper Green served watermelon radish slices for our Gardenary Summit last year, and those things went like hot cakes.

Cherry Belle Radishes Are Your Classic Radish

This is the type you'd expect to find at the grocery store—you know, red skin and white flesh. The perfect little red globes for slicing up and tossing in salads. You'll get the classic red radish peppery bite and lots of crunch.

These roots come in at about 1" in diameter and take just 24 days to grow. They're ideal for container gardening thanks to their size.

Radish Sprouts & Microgreens Are the Fastest Growing Radishes

If you want some spicy radish flavor in your life ASAP, you can't get much faster than radish sprouts, which are ready in just 5 days and require very little setup. Here's how to grow radish sprouts. These leaves may be tiny and the bulbous root nonexistent, but trust me. All the flavor (and nutrition) is there.

Radish microgreens take a little bit longer to grow and need a bit more of a setup. But you can harvest delicious baby radish plants in under 3 weeks. You'll get to enjoy radish greens, however small, when they're nice and fresh and chock-full of nutrients (radish leaves, in case you didn't know, are edible and every bit as nutritious, perhaps even more so, than the roots).

What Are Winter Radishes vs Spring/Summer Radishes?

When you're shopping for radish seeds, you might notice radish types being labeled a winter radish or a spring/summer radish. I don't really pay attention to these distinctions. Both types grow best in the cool season, when the temps range from 35 to 64°F. They both prefer shorter days and can handle some frost.

Winter radishes tend to take a bit longer to grow. Before you plant a certain type of radish, look at your average weather forecast for the next couple of months. How many days do you have left in your cool season before the temperature warms up too much or before your soil will likely be hardened for winter? Then check the days to harvest on the back of the radish seed package. Does this radish have time to mature in the days remaining of your cool season?

If yes, plant away! If no, try growing a faster variety like my trusty ol' French breakfasts. You only need a month of cool weather to get a glorious French breakfast harvest.

Again, you don't have to worry about upcoming frost dates since radishes are frost tolerant.

Time to Buy Some Radish Seeds

If there's one thing I hope you're walking away with, it's this: When in doubt, just plant some French breakfast radishes. You can look forward to your very first radish harvest time in just 28 days.

Don't forget that one major benefit of growing your own radishes—besides the better flavor and the variety—is being able to harvest fresh radish greens. Those leaves are packed with vitamins and nutrients. Some studies even suggest they're healthier than the radish roots. That's why it's a bummer that you don't see them at the grocery store often because they don't ship and save well. Enjoy them fresh in a salad or sauté them like spinach. The last time I pulled radishes, I made the most delicious Southern greens dish.

I can't wait to see the radishes you pull from your garden. Tag us @gardenaryco on Instagram when you harvest your first batch and let us know which ones are your favorite!

Thanks for being here and making gardening ordinary again!