I know there are a few members here that grow horseradish. I have a plant that has been in the ground for about 18 months. I am in zone six and I woul like to dig it soon. I would like to use a little and also replant and expand my bed. Any advice? Is it late enough in the fall to dig and replant?
Oh, yum! I don’t have any advice about harvesting because it’s been too long since I’ve lived where I could grow horseradish successfully, although I do intend to attempt to grow it in a grow bag next year, since that worked better than I could have hoped with rhubarb this year.
My only advice is that when you process it, either issue gas masks to everyone in the house, or do the job outside. It’s been a long time, but the unpleasant effects stuck in my memory, 
although it wasn’t as intensely painful as when a son had the bright idea of heating hot peppers in the microwave to finish drying and then put them through the food processor. Full hazmat gear would have been more appropriate then.
Ha ha, thanks for the advice. My wife is quite sensitive to stuff like this ( I peel and cut onions outside) so I will be sure to do this at the picnic table.
I like to wait as late as possible to harvest my ‘big top’ hr…you could replant some root cuttings then, or do it in the spring. Usually some roots evade my harvest, and regrow in the same spot. What a persistent, care free perennial!
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As late as possible , just before the ground freezes up?
That’s it, the plant will put all its energy(and nutrients) into the root as the top dies back. Amazing how long a piece of fresh root will keep stored in plastic in the fridge, I had on in there close to a year that came out fine. I want to pickle more this fall.
Thanks for the tips!!
I dug my horse radish the other day. It sure taste good. I love to just chew up the roots, yum, I like it when it almost makes my eyes water. I got several nice roots but the largest/oldest plant didn’t have much root and around the crown it kind of had some rotten look to the outside of the root , maybe it was too wet for it this year. It is not in a super well drained spot.
I love horseradish. Every year I say I’m going to plant some and then never do. I remember my pap grinding horseradish in his basement when I was just wee little and I always think him every time I smell it.
I’ll follow the thread for advice on stuff so I’ll know what I’m doing when I get my arse in gear one of these days.
2nd year roots can get a little funky if the plants don’t get harvested annually. I made a great batch of lacto-fermented shredded beet and HR. Also have a batch of fire cider steeping, a Apple cider vinegar based herbal concoction that is a nice warming immune boosting tonic.
I grew a few horseradish this year, a Czech variety I got from a guy on the permies.com forum. They did amazing in my micro-orchard bed, not well in a maple sidebar (nothing does well there though).
We enjoyed eating some of the huge, profuse greens on a number of occasions. The plants got too big for my little trees and tight layout in the orchard, so I want to move them next year, and go from three plants to two. So a couple weeks ago we dug one out to see what the root looked like. It broke when I was pulling it, but I still got a big hunk out. Probably have to smother the rest with cardboard next season since it is infamous for regrowth. The root is tasty and hopefully will last a while in the crisper bin in the fridge.
@JesseS - I like the idea of fermented pickle for this veg; I’ll have to try that with some next year. Or maybe I’ll even put a few slices in with my next jar of veggies for fermentation…
Here are some pics of my horseradish.
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Nice one! Cute helpers, too☺. I made a few batches of pickles with some sliced horseradish as a seasoning, also included a leaf to help the pickles stay crisp. Gave the batch some zip. I want to spread this plant around my orchard a bit more and use it like I do comfrey as a living mulch. No going back with either of those persistent plants, good luck eradicating yours!