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Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-334
Daikon
Raphanus sativus var longipinnatus
Daikon is a large white radish grown as much for what it does to soil as for what ends up on a plate - one planting yields root, leaves, flower clusters, seedpods and even an edible seed oil, five separate harvests off a single plant. Sown thick into compacted clay as a "tillage radish," its root drives straight through hardpan and then rots in place over winter after a hard frost kills the plant, leaving an open channel for water and air right where the compaction was. It grows fast but is thirsty - skip irrigation during a dry spell and root quality collapses, pushing the plant to bolt early instead of bulking up. Grown as food, most of the pungency and a thyroid-affecting compound sit in the skin, so peeling it before cooking is standard practice.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 2–11
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moderate
Vertical layer
Rhizosphere- Soil pH
- 6–7.5
- Plant type
- Annual
- Mature height
- 24–36 in
- Mature spread
- 12–24 in
- Plant spacing
- 4–6 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Beet
Beta vulgaris
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Rhizosphere · USDA 2–11
Black Salsify
Pseudopodospermum hispanicum
Black salsify is the better-flavored, more forgiving cousin of common salsify, and hardly grown in the United States. Its root can be left in…
Rhizosphere · USDA 5–9
Burdock Root
Arctium minus
Lesser Burdock is a different species from the straight gobo root grown as a vegetable - it is the stronger medicinal plant of the two, rated…
Rhizosphere · USDA 3–10
Celeriac
Apium graveolens var rapaceum
Celeriac is a better companion plant than it is a headline vegetable: growing plants repel the cabbage white butterfly, which makes it worth…
Rhizosphere · USDA 3–9
Chinese Artichoke
Stachys affinis
Chinese Artichoke produces small, pearl-shaped tubers with a mild, nutty, artichoke-like taste, eaten raw or lightly cooked - and unlike most…
Rhizosphere · USDA 4–8
Earth Chestnut
Bunium bulbocastanum
Earth Chestnut is a small underground tuber crop that grows through the cool months and goes dormant in summer, much like garlic or another…
Rhizosphere · USDA 4–8
The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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