French Breakfast Radishes Are the Easiest Radishes to Grow

I had a couple disappointing seasons with radishes until I discovered the French breakfast radish. It's now, hands down, my favorite type of radish to grow in my kitchen garden. And thanks to its more delicate radish-y flavor, it's my favorite in the kitchen, too.

If you're looking to grow your own radishes—whether it's your first time to plant radishes or you're an old radish pro—I highly recommend you buy yourself a pack of French breakfast radish seeds. These frost-tolerant little roots grow quickly from seed and don't take up much room in your garden.

Here are my top five tips for successfully growing French breakfast radishes in your own kitchen garden.

Grow radishes in cool weather

Radishes are best grown in the cool season. They're in the Brassica family, and this group tends to bolt (go to seed) when the weather gets too warm. The good thing about this family is that you don't even have to wait until your last frost date to plant them outside.

I typically plant my radishes when the weather is ranging between 35 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. If your weather is warmer than that or if you're still getting some heavy freezes, go ahead and order your seeds now so that you'll be ready to plant them as soon as temps are nice and cool.

Since French breakfast radishes grow so quickly, you just need to look for a 30-day stretch of cool weather before you head outside to plant.

Get the spacing right

Whenever you're planting something that will produce a root crop, it's critical to space your seeds far enough apart to give each root room to grow to its full potential.

Radish seeds look like little pebbles, so it's easy to be a bit lazy and scatter them about or plant them in rows too close together. The ideal spacing between each French breakfast radish seed is about one and a half to two inches. These roots overall won't grow very wide, unlike something like a watermelon radish (which would need at least 4 inches to itself).

By the way, I do recommend direct sowing all types of radishes in the garden, right in the spot where they'll grow to maturity. Root crops don't like being moved once they're growing. (Learn more about sowing radish seeds.)

Keep radish seeds watered

Keep your seeds well-watered. This is true for almost any kind of seed, but especially so for cool-season seeds, which prefer to stay moist as they begin to germinate.

Your goal after planting radishes by seed is to not let the soil ever feel completely dry to the touch. You'll likely need to water daily until you see little green shoots pushing their way up. (Don't worry—you haven't just created a huge watering commitment for yourself. These little seeds typically germinate within just 5 days.) Once your radishes have sprouted, aim for about one inch of water a week.

When you water, try to mimic a gentle rainfall so that you don't displace those wee little radish seeds.

Thin radish seedlings

If you notice your seedlings are growing too close together, you'll need to thin them a bit. (Learn more about how to thin and replant your radish seedlings.)

Thinning is a such a pain to me, but it's an important step to ensure your radishes have enough space to develop the part you want to eat. You can either pull the entire seedling up (and replant it) or cut the seedling at the base of the soil and eat it as you would a microgreen.

Don't wait too long to harvest

French breakfast radishes are ready to harvest just 28 to 30 days after planting by seed, assuming your weather has been ideal. If you wait too long to harvest your radishes, they can become too big and either peppery or starchy. (Learn three signs that your radishes are ready to be harvested from the garden.)

Don't forget that you can harvest a couple of radish leaves from each plant while the roots are still growing. Bring these leafy tops inside and enjoy them the way you would arugula. That's one way you get more bang for your gardening buck when you grow your own.

If you do leave your radishes in the ground a little too long, I've got three ways you can salvage them and still enjoy what you've grown. You can always leave a couple plants in the garden intentionally so that they'll flower as the weather warms and produce seeds. (Here's how to save your own radish seeds for next season.)

I Hope You Enjoy Growing Your Own Little Radishes as Much as I Do!

If you're a beginner gardener, French breakfast radishes are one of the perfect plants to get you started in the kitchen garden. Follow these five tips and you'll be picking your own delicious radishes in no time.

Here's to you and your French breakfast radish success. Thanks for bringing back the kitchen garden with me!