Winter Radish
The Chinese Red Meat Radish is a stunning heirloom variety from historic China, prized for its dramatic contrast between its pale white-and-green exterior and vivid rose-red interior. These round roots grow to about 4 inches and mature in 60 to 70 days, delivering a sweet, crisp flavor that tastes almost like a fruit when harvested in cool weather. Perfect for adding visual drama to salads and stir-fries, this variety thrives in full sun and performs best when planted in fall for a late-season or winter harvest.
Full Sun
Moderate
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Annual
Moderate
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What makes this radish truly special is the surprise hidden beneath its modest exterior, slice into that creamy white-and-green skin and you'll find a stunningly beautiful rose-red center that seems almost too pretty to eat. The flavor matches the looks: exceptionally sweet and crisp with a delicate, almost fruity quality that sets it apart from sharper radish varieties. Fall planting brings out its best character, with cool season growth intensifying both the color and the incredible flavor that makes it worth the wait.
This radish shines in any preparation where its striking appearance and sweet flavor can take center stage. Slice it raw into salads where the red-and-white contrast becomes a visual focal point, or use it in stir-fries where its crisp texture holds up beautifully to high heat. The sweet, almost fruity quality makes it excellent for crudités or as a palate-cleansing vegetable served alongside richer dishes. Because of its larger size compared to typical radishes, it's also substantial enough to work in vegetable platters or as a crunchy addition to grain bowls.
Direct sow seeds in full sun in late summer for fall harvest, timing plantings so roots mature as temperatures cool in late fall or early winter. This variety performs best when grown in cool weather, making fall planting the ideal window for achieving peak flavor and color development.
Harvest when roots reach approximately 4 inches in diameter, typically 60 to 70 days after sowing. You can judge readiness by gently uncovering the shoulder of the root to check its size, when it reaches that full round shape, it's ready to pull. Wait until late fall or early winter to harvest for the sweetest flavor, as cool-season growth concentrates sugars and intensifies the rose-red color throughout the interior.
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“This radish carries the legacy of historic Chinese horticulture, where it was prized for both its ornamental appeal and exceptional eating quality. Known as 'Beauty Heart' in its homeland, this variety represents generations of selection for the specific trait of that stunning red interior, a prize that reveals itself only when you slice into the root. Chinese gardeners understood that the most beautiful vegetables often taste the best, and they cultivated this radish as proof of that principle.”