Radish color variations...

[maybelogic]

I'm relatively new to organic gardening. I started two years ago and this year I decided to grow all of my veggies without the aid of store-bought fertilizers and pesticides. So far everything is going well, better than expected even, with the exception of my cherry belle radish.

My first round was great, 2-3" in diameter with a bold red color but my second round, in a separate garden, has certain color variations. Some are a wide range of red, some are white, some are purple. I'm guessing this has something to do with nutrients, but I haven't been able to find any information on it. I'm not afraid of eating them but I was curious about what causes this.

The soil is a sandy loam. I covered the 20' x 25' plot with peanut hay and guinea scat over winter but that is the only amendments I've made. It might be worth noting that this area was pine forest for about fifty years before it was cleared out. Oh yeah, the logging company left quite a bit of "useless, broken, sapling pine" and it was burned. Not sure if that's relevant.

[DoubleDogFarm]

maybelogic,

Is the second planting from the same seed packet Your second sowing sounds like the mix called Easter Egg II. They range in those colors.

Have you taken a soil sample Your soil is probably acidic, (sour). A application of lime is organic

[maybelogic]

For the past two years I've only bought packets of cherry belle. I've never tried any radish mixes. I used an old soil ph tester this morning and it seems that my soil is acidic, about 5.5. Isn't it too in the season to apply lime? I'm in hot, humid, coastal pocket of zone 8.

Thanks for the reply.