A Gardner’s Guide to Growing Horseradish
For some reason, many people will create a beautiful garden but overlook the opportunity of growing horseradish. We all know that horseradish is hot but this vegetable is an excellent source for making various sauces and foods. Therefore, when you get ready to prepare a garden, you might consider adding horseradish to your list of vegetables to grow.
The one thing to remember when growing horseradish is that this type of plant can be made into delicious foods but it is also very pungent. Therefore, it is important to follow a few simple steps to avoid getting a growing plant’s oils on the hands, which could accidentally be touched to the face and cause burning.
The best and easiest way of planting is to begin with a healthy root cutting. You could visit your local gardening center, home improvement store, or nursery, or if preferred, look online through a variety of reputable sources. These plants are easy to find and they are very affordable. Once you finish growing horseradish, you will be thrilled that you made the decision to do so.
You will need to purchase the cutting during the early part of spring. Immediately upon buying or receiving it in the mail, you need to get the plant into the ground. You will need to make sure the hold is deep enough so you can place the horseradish plant in the middle so the roots can stand up straight. Then while holding the plant in the right position, cover it with the soil, pressing down enough to give it a firm hold.
After the plant is in the ground, you want to water it completely but from there, leave the plant to grow naturally. When growing horseradish, you will quickly find that you do not need to do much. Seriously, once the plant is in the ground and watered, you never have to worry about trimming, fertilizing, or doing much of anything as you would with other plants.
One important note when growing horseradish is that this particular plant will take off, growing quickly and if not controlled, it will soon take over the entire garden. Therefore, you will need to have a means of containing it or plan to cut the plants back so you do not end up with a garden full of nothing but horseradish plants.
Keep in mind that while most people prefer growing horseradish during the spring, others find that harvesting this plant in the fall produces a better yield. Both of these times of the year to plant is fine so you will simply need to decide what one you prefer. Regardless, once the plants start taking over, you will need to dig out the ones you do not want, which requires digging deep to pull out the entire root system.
After you have enjoyed growing horseradishes for your own use, you can always pull up excessive plants and sell them if you like, use them in a compost pile, or destroy them. Regardless, enjoy this vegetable and using all the different recipes available in books and on the internet.