How to Grow Stunning Rambo Radish Microgreens

Rambo radish microgreens are visually stunning and have a snappy radish flavor with a bite.

The red or purple color and distinct radish flavor make these microgreens ideal for boosting the presentation and taste of salads, sandwiches, and soups. 

Rambo radish microgreens can also be added to spring rolls, burgers, and wraps. 

We use radish microgreens mostly on burgers and nacho toppings. 

Rambo Radish Microgreens

Radishes are one of the easiest microgreens to grow.  Rambo Radishes are no different. In fact, they need to be watched almost every day because they grow so fast.

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Let’s digress a bit. Rambo radishes go by several names. You’ll most commonly see plain old Rambo radish seed when buying seed. But you’ll also see them listed as Red Rambo and Purple Rambo radish seed. 

We prefer Purple Rambo, but maroon is closer to the actual color.

Rambo radishes are a daikon radish variety. Mature daikons are bigger and longer, more like carrots than the smaller round or oval radishes we are used to seeing in the store.

We didn’t plant any Rambo radish in the garden this year. But we will see next season, along with another stunning red-stemmed daikon radish called SaiSai.

We will add photos after we harvest them.

How to Grow Purple Rambo Radish Microgreens

Growing Rambo radish microgreens isn’t different than other radish varieties. Except for the amount of seed sown. 

The amount of seed that we recommend varies slightly among the radish varieties. The reasons for this are the size of the seeds, germination rates, and the size of the cotyledon. 

Crowding radishes in a tray can cause disease issues.

Radish seeds are pretty large. They are also darker brown than other radish seeds.

Radishes are an ideal microgreen for beginners because the seeds are large and easy to move around after spreading them on the soil. 

We have also found that the daikon radishes have a lower initial germination rate. Some seeds sprout a day or two after the first burst of germination. 

Seeding Rate for Rambo Radish Microgreens

We seed our Home Microgreens trays with 5.5 grams of seed.  That’s around 0.15 grams per square inch of planting surface. 

An Easier Way

Using our seeding calculator is a much easier way to find out how much seed you need for your tray size.  We have many varieties programmed into the calculator. With larger tray sizes (>100 sq-inches), it’s best to use the calculation as a starting point and experiment. 

But for smaller tray sizes, it works great!

Pin the image below to your Pinterest microgreen board!

Planting Rambo Radish Microgreens

We plant Rambo radishes no different than other varieties except for the seed weight. Check out this article on Growing Radish Microgreens to see how we plant radishes.

Like all radishes, they use a lot of weight during the blackout period.  We use 5 pounds on our small trays. On full 1020 trays, we use between 10- and 15-pounds. 

Don’t worry; radish microgreens are strong. They will lift that weight off the tray surface and, at times, tilt it to the side for far that the weight falls.

Below are some of the growth stages of Rambo Microgreens.

You will see that they grow quickly.

Above is a planted tray so you can see the seeding density.

The tray is then placed in a blackout period where the seeds are covered with a plastic lid, and a five-pound weight is placed on top. The weight causes better contact between the seed and soil. The weight also forces the plants to root deeper. 

As shown below, a tea (kitchen) towel is placed over the tray to exclude light.

After 48 hours, we check on the germination to see if everything is ok. 

Usually, we do not take the lid off the tray to not upset any plants. However, for demonstration purposes, we did.

You can see most of the seeds have sprouted. 

The white fibers are root hairs, not fungus. This is the most often-asked question we get from customers.

We will do a post on that topic soon.

At this point, we would place this tray back into a blackout and let those roots find their way into the soil.

But Not For Long

This image is taken one day after the last, day 3.

The radish seedlings are so strong that they are ready to stand up straight, even with a five-pound weight on them. That’s right, the weight and lid were only just removed before being photographed.

The root hairs have disappeared. We aren’t sure if they are absorbed once the main root anchors into the soil or pushed down into the soil. If anyone knows, leave a comment below.

At this point, the tray comes out of the blackout period and goes under an LED light.

Also, now is the time to bottom water the tray.

We don’t recommend top-watering radishes. They always seem to transpire water more than any other microgreen. Even without top watering, the leaves and stems are often wet in the middle of the tray.

The Few Green Leaves Are Normal

Here’s the tray five days from planting and two days under lights.

The green radish leaves you see are typical. We can’t remember a tray that didn’t have some green leaf radishes within it.

Another characteristic of Rambo microgreens is they grow unevenly. They’re never the neatest-looking tray of microgreens, though their color makes up for it.

They have a stunning maroon color from the stems up. The few green leaves make the maroon color even darker.

Here’s a closer look.

One More Day – Day 6 – Harvestable

Rambo radish microgreens can go from seeds to harvestable microgreens in less than a week. 

If radishes have any problems as microgreens, they grow too fast. By that, we mean they have no shelf life in the tray.

One to two days, that’s it.

The tray is two inches tall, so the microgreens are pushing 5- to 6-inches. Some of the plants on the right side are starting to lean over.

That is another typical trait with Rambo radish microgreens; they tend to fall over as they get larger. 

The leaf area on these microgreens is large, and the weight causes them to lean when they aren’t supported. 

They have to be harvested, or they start to look like the tray below.

There’s nothing wrong with the radishes, only that it becomes harder to harvest them. They also tend to fall into the tray of microgreens next to them on the shelf and get tangled. 

It’s better to harvest them a bit younger.

Never let radishes grow to the true leaf stage; they become tougher, hairy, and bitter.

But hey, you can have more within a week!

Harvesting, Storing, & Flavor

Harvesting radish microgreens is straightforward. Tilt the tray slightly over a bowl or cutting board. Take a knife or a pair of scissors, and cut the stems 1/4- to 1/2-inch above the top of the soil.

The microgreens will fall onto the container, then gently pick them up and let a few fall out of your fingers like you were fluffing them up. 

As shown in the harvesting of Red Acre Cabbage below.

This will allow soil material to fall to the container’s bottom and not be in your microgreen pile.

Don’t Wash Them At This Point!

Whatever you do, don’t rinse or wash them now. It will significantly diminish the shelf life. 

We have an article on how to increase the shelf-life of your harvested microgreens.

Place them in the crisper section of the refrigerator, and they will last over a week. 

Flavor

The flavor of all radish microgreens is that of a radish – go figure, right – but Rambo radish microgreens have a snappy bite to us. Hate to say they’re hot, more like spicy. 

That spicy bite and dark maroon color set Rambo radish microgreens at the front of the line for us. Even though they are a bit pricier than other radish microgreens.

Nutrition

Rambo radish microgreens, like all radishes contain vitamins A, B, C, E, and K and the following minerals, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc.

How to Use Rambo Radish Microgreens

We suggested a few ways in the first section of this article. But let us tell you how we use them.

Their main claim to fame is the color, followed by their distinct flavor. 

So we use them where they can be seen, such as hanging out the edges of a burger bun or on a green salad, especially if the salad base is boring green iceberg lettuce.

But our favorite use for Rambo radish microgreens is as a nacho topping! Its spicy flavor adds a distinct flavor profile next to the jalapeños. The color contrast between the maroon leaves, green guacamole, and brighter red salsa brings the plate to life.

Rambo Radish Microgreen Seed

The Home Microgreen Store carries Rambo radish seed and many other radish microgreen seeds.