Vegetables · Root

Growing radish

Raphanus sativus · also called Mooli, Muj (Kashmiri)A quick cool season root crop sown straight into ridges. Asiatic types take more heat; European types need cool weather, so the right variety lets radish be grown for much of the year.

Gangetic plains: eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plains

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A pile of fresh white radish roots (mooli) with their green leaf stalks
Photo: Thamizhpparithi Maari · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

Radish in the Gangetic plains

  • Season

    Spring to winter, with a different variety for each sowing3

  • Sowing to last picking

    Most Asiatic types are ready in 40 to 60 days (AI suggestion).

    No published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
  • Sow

    Early April to mid August (Pusa Chetki)3

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Sow now

The window here is Mid September to mid November (Pusa Reshmi).

  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Today
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Gangetic plainsEarly April to mid August (Pusa Chetki)Mid August to mid October (Pusa Desi)Mid September to mid November (Pusa Reshmi)Mid October to mid December (Japanese White)Mid October to mid February (Pusa Himani)Early May to SeptemberLast week of September to early DecemberMid December to early MarchMid February to mid April
Temperate HimalayaJuly to OctoberMarch to August
Cold desertMarch to August
Sub-tropical foothillsMarch to May (Pusa Chetki)September to October (Pusa Reshmi, Minowase)End of November to January (Japanese White, Arka Nishant, Minowase, Pusa Desi, Pusa Himani)Mid August to November (Japanese White, Minowase)March to June (Pusa Himani)August to September (Pusa Reshmi, Japanese White, Minowase)
North-west plainsJanuary to February (Pusa Himani)Second half of March (Punjab Pasand)April to August (Pusa Chetki)Mid September to October (Punjab Safed Mooli 2, Punjab Pasand, Japanese White)November to December (Japanese White)February to AprilEnd of April to MayMay to SeptemberOctober to DecemberDecember to January
North-east hills and valleysAugust to September (early varieties)October to November (late varieties)
Arid west1 September to 1 December
Central plateau1 September to 1 DecemberMid March to mid August (Pusa Chetki)
Deccan plateauSeptember to mid December
South interiorSeptemberJune to JulyApril to June
West coastJune to January
East coastSeptember

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Farmyard manure3

    100 quintals per hectare · Apply the full amount before sowing. · Field preparation

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 3 to 6

    Seeds come up1,3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 40 to 60

    Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Water before sowing so the seed comes up well, then as the season and soil need. Keep the soil moist for tender roots; in summer water often, or roots turn pungent and unsaleable.3

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1,2

    5.5 to 6.8

    Light, friable sandy loam rich in humus. Heavy clay soils give rough, misshapen roots with many small side roots.

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun. Grows in light shade but the roots stay smaller.

  • Temperature1,2,3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

    Grows best at 10 to 15 °C

    Takes light frost.

    Monthly temperatures for the Gangetic plains aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering3

Water before sowing so the seed comes up well, then as the season and soil need. Keep the soil moist for tender roots; in summer water often, or roots turn pungent and unsaleable.

Weeding3

Weed and hoe 20 to 35 days after sowing for mid season Asiatic types and 15 to 20 days for early ones, then earth up so roots stay covered.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Field preparationFarmyard manure100 quintals per hectareApply the full amount before sowing.

Sources3

Varieties and yield

Typical range3

200 to 500 quintals a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Keep it away from

Pests and diseases3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Aphids

    Signs

    Clusters of small soft insects on leaves in the cool months.

    What to do

    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.

    Prevention

    • Keep field edges free of weeds.
    • Do not overfeed with nitrogen rich manure.
  • Pest

    Mustard sawfly

    Signs

    Dark grubs eat holes in young leaves, mostly in autumn.

    What to do

    • Hand pick grubs early in the morning.

    Prevention

    • Water the field; flooding drives grubs off the plants.
  • Disease

    Alternaria blight

    Signs

    Brown round spots with dark rings on older leaves.

    What to do

    • Grow a variety reported to resist it, such as Arka Nishant.
    • Remove and destroy spotted leaves.

    Prevention

    • Save seed only from healthy plants.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Raise roots as for the market, select true to type roots and replant them as stecklings at 60 by 60 cm. Remove off types three times: at the leafy stage, at flowering and at maturity.

When the seed is ready

Plants flower in March and April and the pods are ready to harvest in May and June. Keep a seed crop 1,600 m from other radish varieties.

Cleaning the seed

Dry the ripe pods in the sun and thresh them. The pods are tough, so threshing often has to be repeated.

Store fully dried seed in a sealed container in a cool, dry place.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Compost the leaves after the last pull and follow with a summer vegetable or a kharif crop.

Leaves left after harvest can be fed to cattle or composted.

Rotation

Fits short vegetable rotations, for example potato, then muskmelon, then radish.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 3Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Radish; classification of vegetables)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  2. 4Horticulture: Vegetables: RadishTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  3. 7Radish: planting (land preparation, season, method of planting)National Horticulture BoardRead the source
  4. 8Radish: varietiesNational Horticulture BoardRead the source

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