Seed Saving: How to Save Radish Seeds
Radishes are one of the fastest growing garden vegetables, with many varieties maturing in less than 30 days! Learn how to save radish seeds and have free seeds from your favorite variety for years to come!
Although you can save seeds from any radish, you’ll get the best results by saving radish seeds from open-pollinated, or “OP”, varieties. Hybrid seeds, frequently labeled as “F1”, will not produce seeds that are true to type.
Heirloom varieties, like the De 18 Jours radishes below, are usually open pollinated and are great for seed saving!
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How to Save Radish Seeds
Most radish varieties are annuals, meaning that they grow a root and then, if left in the ground, bolt and produce seeds the same year.
To save seeds from your radishes, pick out the nicest looking roots and leave them in the ground.
Don’t save radish seeds from plants that bolt early – they’ll pass on the tendency to bolt to the next generation!
Radish Pollination
Radish flowers are pollinated by insects, but are self-incompatible, meaning that a radish flower needs pollen from a flower on a different plant to set seeds. A radish plant cannot pollinate itself, so one single plant will probably not produce viable seeds.
To maximize pollination and get a good seed harvest, you’ll want to save seeds from at least 6 plants, and ideally 20 or more.
Since radishes are pollinated by insects, pollen from different varieties can be carried 1/2 mile or more! Radishes can cross with other radish varieties, and with wild radishes flowering nearby.
To save pure radish seeds, radishes can be caged with fine mesh such as window screen or insect netting to keep out insects, and then hand pollinated, to prevent unwanted crosses.
Professional seed savers sometimes use a technique called alternate day caging, where the two or three radish seed varieties are caged and the caging removed from one variety each day to allow insects in for pollination.
Saving Radish Seeds
After the plants flower, they will grow green seedpods. Leave the plants in the ground until most of the seed pods are dry and brown.
At this point, the plants can be pulled, or the stalks cut. Bring the seedpods into a sheltered place to continue drying for a few more weeks.
When the seed pods are completely dry, the seeds can be removed by crushing the pods with a rolling pin, or placing them in a tarp and stomping on them!
Radish seeds are brown, and you’ll usually just find a few in each pod, making them one of the most labor-intensive seeds to harvest. This is a great activity to do while watching TV!
Place the dry radish seeds in a paper envelope to store for next year. You can get printable seed packets for free right here!
What About Biennial Radishes?
As I mentioned earlier, most common radishes are annuals. They will quickly bolt and produce seeds if the roots are left in the ground.
There are, however, a few varieties that are biennials, meaning that they need to go through a spell of cool weather and then warm up again to produce seeds.
Many larger winter storage radishes are biennial. If you live in a warm climate, biennial radishes may be able to stay in the ground all winter, and will go to seed as soon as the weather warms up in the spring. In cooler climates, the roots will need to be stored in a root cellar or fridge over winter. They can be replanted once the ground thaws in the spring, when they will be ready to bolt and produce radish seeds.
Summary
- For best results, save seeds from an open pollinated or heirloom variety.
- Save radish seeds from at least 6 plants, ideally 20+.
- Only save seeds from your best roots, not the ones that bolt early.
- Be aware of other types of radishes flowering in the area that could cross with yours.
- Harvest when radish seed pods are dry and brown.
More Seed Saving Advice
Did you enjoy this article? You can find more seed saving articles right here!
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Simplifying Seed Saving
Are you overwhelmed by everything you need to know about saving seeds? Don’t worry, that’s completely normal, and we can help!
There is so much to learn, and the information can get so confusing!
But we have created a simple online seed saving course that takes you through everything you need to know to save seeds from your garden. The course is organized into a simple, visual and easy to follow format that can be completed in as little as an afternoon!
Along with the course, you’ll get downloadable reference charts for radish seeds and more than 20 more garden vegetables to make it easy to remember what you learn! You’ll also get access to our private Facebook group where you can post pictures and ask questions!
Who is this course for? Anyone who wants to learn how to save seeds from their garden!
Who is the course not for? All those now experienced seed savers who wasted years of time and effort figuring it out on their own.
Happy Seed Saving!
-Kait
2 Comments
Trudi J. Jones
Will frost harm the radish seeds and the pods? We have had minus two degree overnights for a week now and it is only today that my plant has started to droop. – Thunder Bay Ontario
Kait
Hi, Trudy! If the seeds were completely dry freezing is fine. On the other hand, of they still had some moisture in them, the freeze may have caused the seeds to crack. I’d recommend doing a germination test with 10 of the seeds to see if they will still sprout before you go to the trouble of removing them all from the pods!