One of the varieties of Japanese radish, Daikon Dubinushka, was bred by specialists in the selection and seed production of vegetable crops at the All-Russian Research Institute at the end of the last century. The characteristics of garden crops are based on the qualities inherent in representatives of the Cruciferous family.
Daikon from Japanese botanists replaced the Russian radish, which has a fiery taste. In the Pacific Islands, the vegetable is popular due to its beneficial qualities. And the delicate taste of daikon allows it to be consumed fresh and in large quantities.
Description of the variety
Features of Daikon Dubinushka:
- dissected leaves of a light green hue, slightly pubescent, oval-elongated;
- semi-raised socket;
- cylindrical root vegetables, pointed downwards, 30–40 centimeters long;
- juicy white fruit pulp.
The Dubinushka variety is a mid-season species, ripening in 65–70 days from the date of emergence. The radish fruits are large in size, weighing from 600 grams to 2.5 kilograms, and the pulp is sweetish and with a minimal amount of pungent substances. When consumed, daikon is pleasantly refreshing, so you can make delicious salads from it. The root vegetable retains its beneficial qualities well during the winter. You can eat daikon Dubinushka until the next harvest.
Growing
Daikon Dubinushka is cultivated in early spring and autumn. In the northern regions, crops can be cultivated under film covers. Although radish grows well at low temperatures, it is not colder than 10 degrees plus. Prolonged cold weather will stop the growth of daikon, and the vegetable will not die. Yields of juicy root vegetables will not please summer residents if the summer is cold and with heavy rains.
The Dubinushka variety is cultivated in open ground, since the daikon will have time to fully ripen before the onset of cold weather.
They're starting planting daikon seeds from mid-April to the first ten days of May. Seedlings are planted earlier at the age of 30 days, when 3 or 4 true leaves have formed.
It is not recommended to plant daikon later, otherwise the plant will go to waste.
Preparatory measures for planting consist of heating the seeds in hot water at a temperature of 50 degrees. Then the seed material is hardened in the refrigerator for 24 hours. You can disinfect the seeds in a one percent solution of potassium permanganate by dipping the seeds for 20–30 minutes.
A site for vegetables is chosen with loose and nutritious soil of neutral acidity. It is better if the area was previously occupied by potatoes, carrots, zucchini and tomatoes. But daikon is not planted after other Cruciferous plants. Many pests, their larvae, and pathogenic microorganisms remain in the soil and will not allow the vegetable crop to fully develop.
Spring planting of daikon requires digging up the area in the fall. Before plowing, add 1–2 kilograms of humus, 40 grams of superphosphate and 20 grams of magnesium sulfate per square meter. Accordingly, pre-winter sowing requires soil preparation in the spring.
For the cylindrical appearance of the Dubinushka radish, choose a planting pattern of 30x60 centimeters. It is better to put 2 grains in each hole, planting them to a depth of 2 centimeters. In order for seedlings to appear faster, the beds are moistened before planting. After sowing, the soil is also sprayed with water and mulched with straw, peat or humus. When the weather is cold, you can cover the beds with film, removing it every day for ventilation.
To prepare seedlings, seeds, 2 pieces each, are planted in peat pots or peat tablets. Containers with crops are covered with glass or film, creating greenhouse conditions. After the seedlings appear, after 5–7 days, the shelter is removed from the containers.
Transplant the seedlings into well-warmed soil.
Features of care
Daikon is unpretentious, but it requires a lot of moisture, since the climate in the vegetable’s homeland is humid. When growing crops, a gardener should pay special attention to watering. It should be regular and plentiful. But you shouldn’t turn a garden bed into a swamp. The daikon will survive drying out of the soil, but it will go away, and its skin will become rough and hard in taste. During hot summers, the fruits may crack.
Weekly loosening of the soil after heavy rains and watering will allow the soil to become permeable to air.
In order not to worry about the constant moisture of the soil in the radish bed, you need to mulch the vegetable plantings with a layer of straw or peat. Aeration is carried out together with weeding, so weeds often become a source of diseases in vegetable crops.
Daikon variety Dubinushka needs feeding when the soil is depleted and does not contain the necessary elements important for the development of the plant. Organic and mineral complexes consist of mullein, diluted in a ratio of 1:5, potassium sulfate - 4 grams per bucket of water. Combine fertilizing with watering. It is useful to add nitrophoska to the soil by diluting 2 tablespoons in 10 liters of water. During the season it is enough to feed the mid-season daikon variety twice.
Thickened plantings of Daikon Dubinushka are undesirable. The root crops will not have enough space for a full growing season, and the plant will bolt. To avoid an unpleasant situation, thinning of the radishes is carried out in the phase of 2 true leaves. Usually weak, deformed and damaged stems are removed.
It is recommended to hill up the Dubinushka variety, since part of the root crop protrudes above the ground. To make the cylindrical fruits less likely to be pushed up from the ground, you need to loosen the bed before planting the seeds to a depth of 30, or preferably 50 centimeters.
Advantages and disadvantages
Vegetable growers highlight the positive characteristics of garden crops:
- The juicy, snow-white pulp of the fruit is pleasant to the taste and beneficial for human health. Sweetish radish is consumed by those who suffer from liver and kidney dysfunction.The use of daikon in various dishes increases appetite and stimulates the mucous membrane of the digestive tract.
- The productivity of daikon Dubinushka is high. From 5 to 7 kilograms of root crops are harvested from 1 square meter.
- The vegetable variety is resistant to bacterial infection.
- Collected root crops retain their beneficial properties for a long time if the harvesting rules are followed and stored in cellars for the winter.
- The Japanese radish variety Dubinushka ripens quickly, and already at the end of July you can enjoy the juicy fruits.
Among the disadvantages of daikon, there is susceptibility to fungal infection when the rules of crop rotation are not followed and during periods of wet, cold summer.
Pests and diseases
Like all representatives of the Cruciferous daikon variety Dubinushka is susceptible to black leg fungus. The description of the symptoms of the disease includes darkening of the plant stem, its thinning and bending. If measures are not taken, the plant will die. Prevention of the disease is the correct crop rotation of vegetables, placing plants at a distance of 30 centimeters. Before planting, daikon seeds should be heated in hot water, followed by cooling in cold water using gauze bags. When growing daikon through seedlings, their development is monitored, destroying sick and weak plants in a timely manner.
With Phoma at the initial stage, the stem below also turns black, but then the leaves become covered with light brown spots and black dots. The root crop does not develop, but dries out and the plant dies.
Among the pests of Japanese radish, one can distinguish the cabbage fly, the larvae of which destroy the stems and roots of the daikon Dubinushka, biting into them. Cabbage cutworm caterpillars overwinter in the soil. And in the spring, a small butterfly with brown-gray wings flies out of the pupae.The armyworm lays eggs on the underside of radish leaves. Then the caterpillars that emerge from them feed on the pulp of the radish leaf, eventually moving on to the fruits.
You can get rid of pests by treating daikon with a solution of tobacco dust, dusting the lower part of the stem with wood ash and red pepper. Spraying with onion peel infusion helps get rid of parasites. In case of massive damage to plantings of Japanese radish Dubinushka, insecticidal preparations are used: Actofit and Lepidotsid.
Harvest and storage
Root crops that have ripened for 2 months begin to be harvested in dry, sunny weather. Daikon is easily pulled out of the ground if the soil is loose. In dense soils, it is necessary to dig up the beds with a pitchfork. The pulled out root crops are left on the ground to dry. Only dry fruits can be stored. Wooden boxes where radishes are placed are suitable for this. Place the container in a room with an air temperature of 3–4 degrees Celsius and a humidity of 75–80 percent. Ventilation must be installed in the basement or cellar. During the winter, the condition of the fruits is monitored and damaged ones are removed. With proper storage of daikon Dubinushka, the harvest from even one garden bed will be enough for a family to last the whole winter for preparing vitamin-rich salads.
