4 Weeks from seed – Radishes have appeared later than expected

Posted on 08. Mar, 2008 by Tracey in Veg Plot

It is very interesting learning about how temperature and light levels affect the growth of seeds at this time of the year. As I have been working on my plot since last April I can now compare times of sowings and emergence of seedlings at different times of the year.

For example Radish seedlings.

: Radish Growth after 4 weeks Feb – March 08

: 3 Radishes growing in my plot

: Radish after 4 weeks growth in April-May 07

Last year when my radishes were sown in April 2007 they only took 2 weeks to emerge from the soil and 4-5 weeks from seed to harvest. However now I have sown my radishes in early February 2008, its already 4 weeks and they have only just emerged from the soil. So even though I’m sowing early to get early crops, the weather is dictating my success rate and success timings by elongating the time from seed to harvest. This does bring about the question – is it really worth it to sow earlier in the year?

In my opinon, it gives me something to do at this time of the year and its nice to sow a few seeds whilst out in the crisp fresh air with the daffodils nodding in the breeze. Seed sowing at this time of the year is like a gentle prod in the right direction or the calm before the storm of the seed sowing busy period in April/May and I’m in no rush to wait the extra number of weeks to harvest.

The germination of seeds is most affected by temperature in the soil. The soil should also not be waterlogged otherwise rotting will occur.

Here are some germination temperatures for vegetables sown at this time of the year:-