Radish — Seed Saving Guide

About This Variety

Radishes are usually open-pollinated and one of the faster crops in the garden, but saving seed from them requires patience — you have to let them complete their full life cycle over an entire growing season. Radishes are insect-pollinated and will readily cross with other radish varieties and wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), which is a common weed in many areas. The upside: radish seeds are prolific, easy to harvest, and stay viable for years.

How to Save Seeds

Select your best radishes — the ones with ideal size, shape, color, and flavor — and leave them in the ground. Do not harvest them.
The radishes will bolt, sending up tall flower stalks. Let them flower and get pollinated by insects. The flowers are small and white or pale purple.
After pollination, seed pods form along the stalks. They look like small, pointed, green pods. Let them develop fully.
Wait until the pods turn brown and dry on the plant. This takes most of the growing season. The plants will look dead and crispy.
Pull or cut the entire plant. Thresh the pods to release the seeds — crush them by hand, step on them in a bag, or roll them with a rolling pin.
Winnow the chaff (pour seeds between two bowls in a breeze, or blow gently). Store clean, dry seeds in a labeled envelope.

Cross-Pollination

Radishes are insect-pollinated and cross readily. This is the main challenge of radish seed saving.

Will Cross With	Won't Cross With
Other radish varieties	Turnips
Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum)	Carrots, beets
	Cabbage, broccoli, kale (different genus)

Isolation distance: For pure seed, radishes need 800 feet to half a mile of isolation from other flowering radish varieties and wild radish. If wild radish grows in your area (common weed), this can be a real challenge. Growing only one variety helps, but watch for wild radish nearby.

Tip: Radish seed pods are actually edible when young and green — they taste like spicy snap peas. If you planted too many seed-savers, harvest some pods for eating and let the rest go to seed. Best of both worlds.

Tip: If you only grow one radish variety and there's no wild radish nearby, cross-pollination is a non-issue. Check your fence lines and field edges for wild radish — it has yellow or white flowers and looks like a weedy, scraggly radish plant.