Harvesting Radish Seeds

Have you ever wondered how to harvest radish seeds from your radish plants? Many times my radishes bolt and go to seed but I had never tried to harvest the seeds for future use. This year I had several radish plants that bolted so I set out to harvest the seeds for next year’s radish plantings.

Radishes Gone to Seed with Pods

After the radish plants go to seed, they later develop these green pods which is where the radish seeds form. You have to let the pods grow and then dry them out to be able to harvest the little seeds inside. Here is a photo of a big bunch of radishes with the pods drying. It works well to cut the vines with the pods attached and leave them out in the sun to dry out.

The pods turn white in color and are hard when ready to harvest the seeds as shown in this next photo.
Radish Seeds in Pods

Here is a photo of just some of the seeds I collected from the radish pods I harvested.
Harvested Radish Seeds

It is a slow process to open the pods and collect the seeds. I found it works well to put the vines and pods on a large sheet of newspaper and then crack the pods open like a peanut. Be careful not to crush the pods as you may break or damage the seeds. Discard dark or inferior seeds as you want to have quality seeds for planting in the future. Keep the seeds dry and store them securely for next year’s garden.

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