RADISH

Almost every partof the radish plant is useful. The leaves and roots may beeaten raw or cooked as vegetable, or cooked with meat or fish.

Besides its useas food, radish is also used in many other ways; its oil doesn'tdry up like ordinary oil. This is used in soap making; themeat after extraction is used as fertilizer. Radish is alsofor diseases of the liver and spleen.

There are two kindsof radish. One is planted for its crop and the other for itsleaves and roots. The different varieties we have are:

Japanese radish - big and long, late harvested

Chinese radish - fine, smooth and white, productive and has moderate length of time for harvest

White icicle - early harvest, rounded, long with small roots.

Bombay, 60 Days and others - can harvest within 100 days from planting, and mature 30 days from germination.

LAND PREPARATION

1. Plow and harrowthe field lengthwise and crosswise , and leave it for sevendays to allow the uprooted weeds to rot and their seeds togrow.

2. Plow and harrowas before, repeat a third time but deeper.

3. Make elevatedbeds about one-half meter away from each other.

4. Put fertilizerwhere plants will be grown; mix this with the soil by meansof rake.

PLANTING

A hectare of landwould accommodate about 100 grams of seeds. Apply a kerosenecan of compost before planting (see no.8).

1. Treat the seedsfirst in growth regulator like "Seet Treat".

2. Mix one teaspoonOrthocide 50 WP per kilo of seeds to check whatever diseasesthey may have.

3. Prepare the plantingof the seeds. To make them evenly apart, use a string attachedto both ends- one at 10 cm, a second at 40 cm, etc.

4. With the aidof a pointed stick, make a hole one and a half (1 1/2) cmdeep and 10 cm apart, following the distance of the string.

5. Drop two seedsin each hole and cover with fine soil. Water with fine sprayso as not to dislodge the seeds or remove the top soil.

6. Cover with straw about5-10 cm thick between the rows of plants with space of about5 cm from the plant. Don't cover the speed especially if ithas not germinated. Keep away chicken from scratching theseeds away. The straw or dried leaves serve to protect theplants from strong rain or intense heat and from growing weeds.

7. Water morningand afternoon in the first three(3) days after planting; don'tallow them to get dry . When the seeds germinate, water onlyin the morning. Ten days after all have germinated, wateronly in the afternoon when the ground is dry.

8. Dig thecanal around the plot about 30 cm wide and 40 cm deep to wherethe water will run in case of heavy rain.

9. Before planting,mix a can of compost to every 2 sq. meters of plot. If animalmanure will be used apply this after the first flowing: onecan per sq. meter. If chemical fertilizer will be used, havethe soil analyzed first at the Bureau of Soils Laboratory.If not, the National Food and Agricultural Council recommends8 bags of ammonium sulfate for every hectare of radish plants.

This Information Came From: