Updated 2/13/25: Oviedo, Florida, USA
This is my on-going plant documentary on growing different varieties of daikon. I do sell daikon seeds.
General Information About Growing Daikons
What is daikon? Daikon is a white radish used in many Asian cuisines. All parts of a daikon which include the root, petiole (stem), and leaves are edible. The leaves are great for sautéed. Its value is the edible root.
Growing method: Grow from seeds! I sell the daikon seeds as part of my $1 seed packets to promote and help out urban gardeners on a budget like me. Refer to my “Seeds for Sale Inventory” post. Each seed packet contains 30 to 100 seeds.
Direct sowing, thinning, and spacing…. I prefer to direct sow daikon seeds in my raised beds. Giving each daikon seedling an adequate amount of spacing of 6-inches or a hand space apart will promote a decent size daikon at maturity. The healthy mature size and length of daikon depends of varieties. Other factors that may affect the mature size and length of daikon include lack of sunlight, watering, and spacing. Pictured are my Green Shoulder Hybrid Korean daikons with two seedlings growing together. I forgot to thin them out so their maturity size are not what I had hoped for.
Daikon Varieties That I Grow and Review
- D1. Shirahime Hatsuka daikon
- D2. Minowase daikon
- D3. Green Shoulder F1 Korean daikon
- D4. Formosa Giant daikon
- D5. Autumn Korean daikon
- Daikon varieties I have tested and discontinued growing in my garden: Wakayama Japanese daikon
D1. Shirahime Hatsuka Daikon
- Description: Shirahime Hatsuka is a petite daikon variety. This variety is great to make Korean radish kimchi. It has a 30 days to maturity making it ideal for kids learn to grow and harvest in a short amount of time. The mature size is about 4-inches long. I grow this daikon variety with 6-inch deep potting mix.
- Result: Keeper in my garden, great for pickling
- Germination rate: 100% tested in Oct. 2024
D2. Minowase Daikon
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- Description: Minowase daikon is a common daikon sold at the Chinese/Korean markets because it is commonly use for strewing. I don’t use this for kim chi because it is not firm and crunchy enough. Minowase daikon seems to hold more water.
- Days to maturity:
- Result: Keeper in my garden, great for stewing
- Germination rate: 100% tested Oct. 2024
D3. Green Shoulder F1 Korean Radish
- Description:
- Days to maturity:
- Result: Keeper in my garden, great for pickling and kim chi
- Germination rate: 100% tested fall 2024
D4. Giant Formosa Daikon
- Description:
- Result: need to try growing again
- Germination rate: TBA
Are all “daikons” the same? No, not all “daikons” are the same. There are many varieties of daikon radishes. The size, shape, and texture also varies from one variety to another. Some daikon varieties are crunchier and are recommended for use in making Korean radish kim chi and Vietnamese pickled daikons, while some varieties are better for braiding and stewing. Some daikon varieties have some kind of hairy fuzz on its leaves that make it not easy to harvest and make my skin itchy while some varieties have smooth leaves that doesn’t have the fuzz on it.
Note: I am not a scientist or a botanist, I do not talk about the scientific facts and details about any plants I grow unless I find a trust-worthy source for my work citation. You will need to find a reliable source for such information. Don’t believe the facts unless it is coming from an accredited source since nowadays I noticed people will make up and lie or make false assumptions just about anything to market their sales. A professional writer or author will definitely provide a work citation to back up any scientific statement.
