Watermelon Radish × Purple-Skinned Radish

[Klaus Brugger]

I also don't see many with color on the inside even though I planted some in the original mix.

Can you recommend any turnip cultivars with color on the inside? The most intensely colored turnip I've seen a picture* of was a 'Collie' F1 that was red through and through, but even this cultivar doesn't seem to be that red always. 

Beautiful root, by the way!

*https://www.labonnegraine.com/navets/2118-rouge-collie-f1.html

[AndrewB]

I just now learned that there are spring AND fall radishes (that need a much longer season). I just assumed all radishes were spring planted.

I now see that the Spanish black radishes that my mother keeps trying to plant (and they keep failing) is supposed to be a fall radish harvested in the spring.

Seems these watermelon and chinese sweet fruit radishes are also fall planted and often get sweeter when exposed to cold weather. Fascinating. But good to know.

It's things like these that often discourages first time gardeners because they assume they are just bad with plants.

So, how is this project coming along? I may want some seeds if you make some progress with it. Are you still breeding for spring?

[Diane Whitehead]

I don't think those black-skinned ones get sweeter.  I grew them once years ago but they were too hot for me.

[Garrett Schantz]

I let a black one overwinter for seed, it lived from summer - until spring. Pretty big...

Pretty tough on the outside, inside was quite spicy - very center was sweet.

The black ones in general are spicy though.

[Garrett Schantz]

I just now learned that there are spring AND fall radishes (that need a much longer season). I just assumed all radishes were spring planted.

I now see that the Spanish black radishes that my mother keeps trying to plant (and they keep failing) is supposed to be a fall radish harvested in the spring.

Seems these watermelon and chinese sweet fruit radishes are also fall planted and often get sweeter when exposed to cold weather. Fascinating. But good to know.

Most root crops become sweet if they are fall planted - harvested in the spring.

Some carrot varieties are best planted in fall as well. Otherwise they bolt.

Beets can become sweeter as well, they don't survive my winters too well though.

Seems to work with Black Salsify  (Scorzonera hispanica) as well. Haven't tried Mammoth Island Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius), so can't say about that one.

Works with turnips too.

All of the energy from the leaves turn into sugars during the winter, helps the plants come back in the spring.

[AndrewB]

It seems the yellow ones from Europe are also spicy (and fall planted). I would love a mild (perhaps spring) yellow radish. Perhaps a future breeding project.

[Diane Whitehead]

Helios is a pale yellow to be sown in spring.  I've used up all the seeds.

I still have some Zlata, from Franchi Sementi.

[Klaus Brugger]

Are you still breeding for spring?

Sorry for the late answer. Yes, I'm still breeding for spring. I pollinated a selection of 'Saxa 3', a quick, short-leafed forcing radish, with the small red-fleshed 'Red Meat' × 'Malaga' F₂ plant I've posted earlier.
I grew out a few hundred plants in autumn and most of them already looked much like a spring radish. I selected about 60 plants with mostly short leaves for 2022 seed production. What I had not expected was that some plants (I only took a few samples) showed a thick anthocyanin-colored cortex (I hope "cortex" is anatomically correct) even though they have a full chromosome set (and the cytoplasm) of 'Saxa 3'. My original watermelon × spring cross didn't do that (or maybe I didn't grow enough plants). Some tubers, again, have a greenish flesh.

The spring radish project is the most concrete with a clear breeding goal. However, I also did some pollinations with my 'Red Meat' × 'Malaga' F₂ on 'Green Meat' (and vice versa) because I'd really like to work more with green color. Even though being a hybrid variety, 'Green Meat' had normally developed flowers with apparently viable pollen (so no CMS, I guess).  The resulting generation had much less green than I had expected and I selected a few tubers that showed no green at all because I liked their anthocyanin coloration. I've also kept a few 'Red Meat' × 'Malaga' F₃ plants.

Here are some pictures:
1) spring population collage (scroll right if you're on a mobile device)
2) crosses with 'Green Meat': selected tubers
3) watermelon × spring F₃: my favorite tuber

[Steph S]

Very nice results. I love that you got purple flesh as well.    Ring patterning of the color is very pretty!

[lieven]

Our favourite winter radish, and good candidate for breeding: Misato Red. Sorry, red skin only, but perfect firm white, sweet, just enough pungency. Good keeper. The leaves are very daikon-like. Not much to improve on - except flesh colour if you wish.

[AndrewB]

Lovely!

I have real trouble getting red fleshed radishes to 1) grow and 2) be red fleshed. I have trouble with colour in my plants in general. A number of beans are faded or not quite right (arikara buff, anybody?). I even have a peony that I know was magenta at our last house and here it is barely a strong pink. My soil is missing something that they need. But I am determined to find some that can do something with it.

Your soil pH might be off if the color of your peonies are a different shade now. I think more acidic creates more red flowers and more alkaline more blue?

[Klaus Brugger]

Quick update

I'm still primarily doing grow-outs in autumn – it's easier for me to handle than spring sowings.
Last year some nicely coloured individuals popped up in families with not that much spring radish genetics. I'll still continue working with them (not necessarily with a spring radish in mind).
Here are some selected tubers:



I haven't found a small spring radish type individual with intensely red or purple flesh (cambium inwards) yet. What's probably easier to achieve is something with a red/purple "halo" or ring. Here's one I harvested last weekend:



Light green flesh should be relatively easy to get in a spring radish background. I'm still stabilizing though.

[AndrewB]

The red flesh in a spring radish might require another cross with something like red beauty from baker creek.

I'm going to try my cross this year for the orange skinned radish. I might need to do another cross later with one that has red or pink flesh to try and get orange flesh.

[Klaus Brugger]

The red flesh in a spring radish might require another cross with something like red beauty from baker creek.

I'm going to try my cross this year for the orange skinned radish. I might need to do another cross later with one that has red or pink flesh to try and get orange flesh.

'Red Beauty' sure looks nice!

Your project sounds really interesting! Please keep us updated! I'm very curious about what might segregate from a red × yellow radish cross.
I'm currently working a little bit on turnips with high anthocyanin flesh to then cross them with yellow-fleshed turnips. The good thing with turnips of course is that yellow flesh is already available. I'm not sure if it's attainable in radish.

[AndrewB]

'Red Beauty' sure looks nice!

Your project sounds really interesting! Please keep us updated! I'm very curious about what might segregate from a red × yellow radish cross.
I'm currently working a little bit on turnips with high anthocyanin flesh to then cross them with yellow-fleshed turnips. The good thing with turnips of course is that yellow flesh is already available. I'm not sure if it's attainable in radish.

Sure will. I'm using a pink x a yellow this time. I think there are two distinct alleles for white radishes. When pink and yellow are crossed should produce a purple radish. I think purple is dominant over red and additionally I will need to reselect for whatever modifier gene is present that changes red to pink. I worked out all the genetics as far as it is known at one point, but it is messy to say the least. I will need to find my notes again on that at some point. But the important point is the F1 should be purple.