Pruning Horseradish Plants

The nice thing about horseradish: pruning is unnecessary. You just want to make sure you keep suckers from competing with the main shoots.

During the growing season, a crown with multiple shoots form above the ground, while the original set grows in diameter with many side roots forming underground. The goal is to grow the original set as large as possible. Either suckering or lifting can achieve this.

NOTE: This is part 8 in a series of 11 articles. For a complete background on how to grow horseradish plants, we recommend starting from the beginning.

Methods

Suckering

Remove all but one or two leaf shoots at the head end as they develop.

Lifting

Lifting is simply digging through the ridge and gently lifting the crown end with a hoe to break any roots forming at the crown; this forces side roots to form at the tail end. This should be done a couple of times during early and mid season, advises Bratsch.

Both methods will result in greater swelling of the initial root, producing a large, one-to-two pound main root at harvest.

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