Having tried horseradish in a container without success, I want to try it in the garden. Any clever tips out there for keeping it under control? Will it go under to escape border edgings of concrete (flat mowing strip)? Thanks to anyone who has even the tiniest bit of advice.

Hi amki, sure wish I could visit New Zeland some day.

Horseradish can be grown in pots if the pots are big and you give the plant some shade and of course water daily. Sinking the pot in the ground helps. I grow it in 20 gallon pots. When I harvest roots I start new plants in 3 gallon pots for thier first year.

As far as I can see the new growth, when planted in the ground un contained, comes from shallow rootlets and does not send out long runners. So a barrier one foot deep should, or might contain the plant.


Peace

I've heard of people growing horseradish in 5 gallon buckets sunk in the ground.

My own experience is that a barrier should be about 18" deep to make sure none of those roots go under. I've harvest from well established patches where the roots zigzag around, up and down and carry on for at least a foot.

Thanks to both of you for some very helpful information; controlling the stuff may not be as hard as I feared. I have adequate space, so I'll probably just build a rather tall raised bed.

I probably haven't mentioned that I'm American (New Orleans), and "prepared" (packed in vinegar) horseradish isn't available, to the best of my knowledge. They only have "horseradish sauce," a creamy concoction that is totally unsatisfactory to me. I made my own last year from horseradish that I bought, but it's not usually available in the supermarkets, either, so I've decided to DIY.

New Zealand is really lovely and a gardener's dream. The local joke is that you could plant a broomstick and it would grow, so you can imagine what horseradish would do.

Visitors are welcome, so I hope you'll make it one day. I'll be happy to correspond with anyone who is contemplating a visit and help in any way I can.

I grow my horseradish in 1 gallon pots with the bottoms cut out, and the pots are sunk down into the corners of one of my raised beds. So far, they haven't "strayed" from the confines of the pots.

A friend of mine inadequately confined her horseradish she'd brought from Germany, man was she sorry. Somehow the stuff that makes this root hot got into the dirt of the garden, and every root and leaf vegetable had a taint of that horseradish. Imagine, hot lettuce. Ickh!

What variety horseradish are we talking about hear? Iv'e had a patch of horseradish at the edge of my garden for at least 20 yrs and it still is the same. When I harvest I cut the crown off, stick it (the crown) back in the ground and it rejuvanates itself.

Up here in the cold country I have had good luck using 45 gallon plastic barrells. I cut the tops & bottoms off then cut them in thirds which gives me three rings about 18 inchs deep. I then sink these plastic rings in the garden. This works well for any plants with wandering roots.

Sounds to me like you're living on the edge. Or you're lucky or you know all of the right people. With my luck, I find myself in the predicament the Aris describes below.

Ickh? This could initiate a revival of iceberg lettuce. Seriously, I kind of like the idea. Might be a good substiture for watercress when that isn't available.

I don't even want to tlk o you! You must have been born with a gold shovel in your hand. Or else, "what variety" is the key question. I didn't even know there was more than one variety, but it is certainly possible that different plants are called different names in various places.

Just checked "Botanica," and it says that Armoracia rusticana is the only commonly grown species & the one used for horseradish sauce, implying that there are other species but naming none. I guess this calls for some internet research.

Being new to this forum, I guess I blew it. Sorry, all of you will just have to pick out your own reply. I expected my replies to you to appear under your message as I hit reply in that message.

You did it right. The indentation shows what the reply is to (next farther out is what was replied to) and the order is chronological. Take a look at the placement and the dates & times and the order will make sense.