Planting guide

When to plant daikon

Big, mild Japanese white radish for pickling, stir-fry and loosening heavy soil. In Melbourne it goes in Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 7–10 wks
Spacing: 15 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means daikon can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Perth	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Canberra	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Geelong	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Hobart	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Launceston	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Blue Mountains	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Mildura	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Wellington	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Christchurch	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant daikon

Sow seed 1 cm deep in loose, deep soil.
Thin to 15 cm.
Keep evenly moist so roots stay sweet.
Pull when roots are thick; do not leave too long.

Daikon varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Miyashige Classicstorage · mild · 9–11 wksBig white daikon; crisp and sweet
April Cross Classicslow-bolting · 7–9 wksBolt-resistant white radish
Minowase Adventurousheirloom · 8–10 wksLong Japanese white radish; juicy and mild
Mantanghong Adventurouscolourful · 9–11 wksGreen skin with a magenta heart
Mini Daikon Red Classic7–10 wks
White Miyashige Adventurousheirloom · 7–10 wks

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Lettuce, Spinach, Pea

Daikon by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Potato · Carrot · Beetroot · Radish · Turnip · Parsnip

Not sure daikon is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now