Heirloom · Open-Pollinated · 22–28 days from direct seeding
cool-season · timing varies by zone
Grows well in
Raised Bed ✓
In-Ground ✓
Container/Pot ✓
Grow Bag ✓
Meet This Plant
Cherry Belle is THE radish. It has bright red skin, crisp white flesh, and it's mild in flavor. If all goes well you can have it on your plate in as little as 22 days. For a root vegetable, that's practically unheard of.
This is the one you grow when you need something to move fast and make you feel like a gardener while everything else is still getting started.
What it tastes like: Crisp, clean, and mildly peppery. Less sharp than most radishes you've had. The kind that actually converts people who thought they didn't like radishes.
How to Grow It
Sun
Full sun preferred. Tolerates partial shade but roots develop better with good sun exposure.
Water
Keep soil consistently moist. Uneven watering produces misshapen, cracked, or hollow roots. Steady moisture is the whole game with radishes.
Sowing Details
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Depth¼–½ inch
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Spacing1 inch, thinning to 2–3 inches
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Row Spacing6–12 inches
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Thinning2–3 inches. Don't skip this. Crowded radishes make tops, not roots.
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Germination3–7 days
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Days to Maturity22–28 days from direct seeding
When to Plant
For spring, direct sow as soon as the soil can be worked, even 3–4 weeks before your last frost when daytime temperatures are consistently in the 40s to 50s°F. Radishes handle frost without trouble.
For fall, direct sow 4–6 weeks before your first fall frost or once daytime temperatures begin dropping below about 75°F.
Succession sow every 7–10 days in both seasons for a continuous harvest.
Zones 7–8
Direct sow in early spring while temperatures are still cool and again in late summer once the heat breaks. Radishes bolt fast in heat and the roots lose their crunch, turn hollow, and get bitter. Don't push it into summer.
Zones 9–11
Fall through winter is your best season. Direct sow once the heat breaks and keep succession sowing through the cooler months.
Grow Friend Tips
Thin them or you're wasting seeds
Crowded radishes put their energy into tops instead of roots. Thin to 2–3 inches as soon as seedlings hit 2 inches tall. It feels wasteful but if you don't, they won't develop proper roots and you'll get a bunch of scraggly plants that never bulb up.
Want radishes all season? Sow every 7–10 days.
Each planting matures fast and all at once. A short row sown every week or so keeps a steady trickle of radishes coming instead of one overwhelming harvest followed by a long wait.
Pull them on time
Radishes don't hold in the ground. Once they hit mature size they start to decline fast. Check them at 22 days and pull when they're about 1 inch across. If you leave them too long they'll get dry, spongy, and bitter inside. When the shoulder of the root starts pushing up above the soil line, that's your signal to pull everything that's left.
Loose soil makes better radishes
Rocky, compacted, or clay-heavy soil produces misshapen roots. Radishes need loose, well-draining soil to form those perfect round globes. If your soil is heavy, work in compost before planting. It makes a noticeable difference.
They grow great in containers
A container at least 6 inches deep works fine. Just be sure to thin properly, water consistently, and pull on time.
Companion plants
Lettuce
Carrots
Cucumbers
Nasturtium
Spinach
Peas
Harvest & What to Do With It
When it's ready
Pull when the shoulder of the root starts pushing up above the soil line and the root is about 1 inch across, typically 22–28 days. Don't wait. Radishes decline fast once they hit their peak and the window is short.
How to harvest
Grab the base of the greens and pull straight up. If the soil is dry, water first to loosen it. Radishes should come out clean and easy. Twist off the greens right away if you're storing the roots, but save them if you're going to use them. They're edible and peppery.
Yield
A short row gives you a surprisingly generous harvest for the space it takes up. Succession sowing is the secret to keeping a steady supply going all season.
Short-term storage
Remove the greens, wrap roots in a damp paper towel, and refrigerate. Keeps up to 2 weeks. Greens store separately and are best used within a few days.
Long-term storage
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Refrigerator pickling: Radishes pickle beautifully. Slice thin, pack into a jar with vinegar, salt, sugar, and whatever spices you like. Ready in a few hours and keeps in the fridge for weeks.
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Freezing: Radishes lose their crunch completely when frozen. Not worth it raw.
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Dehydrating: Possible but not practical. Texture suffers badly.
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Pressure canning: Not appropriate for radishes.
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Water bath canning: Not safe on their own. Pickled radishes in an acidified brine are fine.
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Root cellaring: Not ideal for spring radishes. They do better in the fridge.
What to cook
Raw is where Cherry Belle shines. Sliced thin on a salad, eaten whole with butter and flaky salt, or piled on tacos. The crunch and mild bite are the whole point. Pickling is the other move. Pickled radishes are one of the easiest and most satisfying things you can make with a garden harvest.
Seed Storage & Saving
| Variety |
Cherry Belle Radish |
| Type |
Heirloom · Open-Pollinated |
| Seeds per packet |
~200 seeds |
Storing unused seeds: Keep somewhere cool, dark, and dry. Viable up to 4 years.
Seed saving: Radishes are insect-pollinated and will cross freely with other radish varieties nearby. Isolate by at least half a mile for reliable purity, or grow only one variety at a time. Let a few plants bolt and flower. Once the seed pods are dry and papery on the plant, pull the whole plant, bring it inside to finish drying, then crush the pods by hand to release the seeds. Store in a cool, dark place.
