[hubballi]

I give up. Every year the same. I sew radish in the conditions advised and they still takes ages to grow into long thin spindly red stalks without bulking out. I have sowed them also in the ground next to my peas and 3 weeks on nothing has come up. Probably slugs have eaten the tops. People always say the are the easiest to grow NO THEY ARE NOT !!!!

[JayG]

I used to just rake the seed into a patch of soil and got quite a few red spindly things as you have.

They seem to do much better if the seed is covered by up to 1/2" of soil.

I also find that "French Breakfast" are much more reliable than the globe and different coloured varieties.

[lancashiregardeninggal]

they need a firm bed 

[8doubles]

Grown some whoppers this year, i think you have to grow the right variety and thin them out a lot.
Mine are often poor or bolt but this year i mixed 3 different varieties together hoping conditions would suit at least one type and sowed them in compost in a cold frame.
I think it was the `French Breakfast` that came good for me.

[sclarke624]

First year I grew them 4 or 5years ago perfect.  Ever since hit and miss, so you are not alone.

[DD.]

I find it too dry and warm for them at this time of year.

[Salmo]

My best radishes are always the ones I put as a marker in my parsnip row in March. After that decent radishes are very hit and miss. Flea beetles seem to get worse each year.

[DD.]

I never sow them after April. (Besides - too many other things to worry about).

[evie2]

First year I grew them 4 or 5years ago perfect.  Ever since hit and miss, so you are not alone.

Same happened for me except a few year further back, 1977 to be exact

[arugula]

I give up. Every year the same. I sew radish in the conditions advised .....

Into a quilt? Or a blanket? Trying sowing them direct in a bed in the ground in the spring.

[hubballi]

It is French breakfast I am trying to grow.

[VeggieVirgin]

Mine grow all right, but they're tiny: I'm lucky if I get one half an inch long. They're French Breakfast too.

[JayG]

Have you tried covering the seeds a bit deeper?

Tamp with the back of a rake after sowing to firm the soil (they are brassicas after all.)

Bit of GP fertiliser won't come amiss if your soil is poor, and don't forget to water them just because they're only radishes!

[hubballi]

Whats GP ?

[JaK]

Greneral pupose is think.

I find that the really cheap radish seed from been and qued the best (39p ish). I sow then half in deep, water and the ignor. Seems to work best that way.