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.
Sub-tropical foothills: Jammu, Kangra, Dehradun
At a glance
Radish in the Sub-tropical foothills
Across India
When to sow it
Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.
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The window here is Mid August to November (Japanese White, Minowase).
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- Harvest
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See the dates as a table
| Region | Sow | Nursery | Transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-tropical foothills | March 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) | |||
| Temperate Himalaya | July to OctoberMarch to August | |||
| Cold desert | March to August | |||
| North-west plains | January 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 | ||
| Gangetic plains | Early 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 | ||
| North-east hills and valleys | August to September (early varieties)October to November (late varieties) | |||
| Arid west | 1 September to 1 December | |||
| Central plateau | 1 September to 1 DecemberMid March to mid August (Pusa Chetki) | |||
| Deccan plateau | September to mid December | |||
| South interior | SeptemberJune to JulyApril to June | |||
| West coast | June to January | |||
| East coast | September |
From seed to harvest
One season, day by day
Days from sowing
Day 0
Sow
Farmyard manure1
12 t per acre · Apply all of it at field preparation.
Day 3 to 6
Seeds come up1,3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.
Water straight after sowing for good germination, again on the third day, then every 5 to 7 days. In summer water more often or growth stops and roots turn hot and tough. The whole crop needs about 210 to 250 mm of water.1
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 Sub-tropical foothills, 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 Sub-tropical foothills aren't in the library yet.
Water and feeding
Watering1
Water straight after sowing for good germination, again on the third day, then every 5 to 7 days. In summer water more often or growth stops and roots turn hot and tough. The whole crop needs about 210 to 250 mm of water.
Weeding1
Thin before the second watering: about 2 cm apart for European types and 5 to 6 cm for Asiatic types. Weed, and earth up exposed roots twice for Asiatic types and once for European types.
| When | What | How much | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field preparation | Farmyard manure | 12 t per acre | Apply all of it at field preparation. |
Varieties and yield
100 to 120 quintals an acre
Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.
Pusa Chetki
Takes heat; for very early and late sowing. Ready in 40 to 45 days.
Japanese White
Asiatic type. Matures in 65 to 70 days.
Minowase
Long white roots, less pungent than Japanese White.
Pusa Himani
European type. Ready in 50 to 60 days.
Pusa Reshmi
For early sowing in the cooler months. Ready in 50 to 60 days.
Pusa Desi
Pungent, tapering roots. Matures in 50 to 55 days.
Arka Nishant
Resists pithiness, early bolting and forked roots.
White Icicle
European type with thin, tender white roots.
Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the Sub-tropical foothills, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
Pests and diseases1Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.
Organic and cultural controls only.
Cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicae)
Signs
Caterpillars eat the leaves.
What to do
- Release the egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis at weekly intervals from mid January.
- Plant border rows of mustard and coriander; their flowers bring in Cotesia wasps that attack the caterpillars.
- Spray Bacillus thuringiensis at 2 g per litre of water.
Prevention
- Do not spray close to harvest.
Diamondback moth (Plutella)
Signs
Small green caterpillars make holes in the leaves.
What to do
- Plant border rows of mustard and coriander.
- Spray Bacillus thuringiensis at 2 g per litre of water.
Alternaria blight
Signs
Brown round spots on older leaves that later show dark rings; worse on seed crops, where stems and pods are spotted too.
What to do
- Remove and destroy spotted leaves.
Prevention
- Collect seed only from a healthy crop.
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 Sub-tropical foothills, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.
After the last pull, compost the leaves and follow with a summer crop such as okra or a gourd.
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.
- Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2020 (Radish; Insect-pest and disease management in root crops)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
- Production 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
- Horticulture: Vegetables: RadishTNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
- Radish: planting (land preparation, season, method of planting)National Horticulture BoardRead the source
- Radish: varietiesNational Horticulture BoardRead the source
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