Vegetable · Brassicaceae
When to plant daikon
A very large radish sown in late summer rather than spring, because it bolts instead of swelling when the days are lengthening.
Sow direct
8 weeks after
Counted from your last spring frost.
Days to maturity
60-80
From sowing to a first picking.
Frost tolerance
Hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make daikon plantable anywhere.
- Sow direct 8 weeks after the last frost.
- Expect 60–80 days to maturity, counted from sowing.
- Sow again every 21 days for a continuous supply.
- Can also be sown in late summer for an autumn crop.
Getting the timing right
Sow direct eight to ten weeks after the last frost, or better, ten weeks before the first autumn frost. Spring sowings almost always bolt.
Frost tolerance
Stands to about -8C. In mild climates it holds in the ground all winter.
Classified as hardy, with damage expected below -8°C (17.6°F)17.6°F (-8°C).