Permapotes

Chicory

Chicory: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar

Chicories belong to the genus Cichorium in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The name covers several vegetables with noticeably different leaves, colours and culinary uses. Forms of Cichorium intybus include radicchio, sugarloaf chicory and varieties grown for Belgian endive. Curly endive and escarole belong to another species, Cichorium endivia. These vegetables are related, but they are not one uniform variety with identical characteristics.

Radicchio often has red or purple leaves marked by white veins. Some forms develop a rounded head, while others have more elongated leaves. Sugarloaf chicory produces a tall head of green leaves with a paler centre. Curly endive has finely divided foliage, whereas escarole has broader, less divided leaves. This range of shapes gives the group a varied appearance in a vegetable garden, even before its different flavours enter the kitchen.

Belgian endive, also known as witloof chicory, represents a particular use of selected varieties. Its small, tightly packed pale head develops in darkness from a root. That appearance therefore does not describe all leafy chicories. Varieties selected for their roots, which are roasted for use in drinks, represent another use of Cichorium intybus. Leaf vegetables and root chicory have different purposes despite their botanical relationship.

Bitterness is an important culinary characteristic, but its intensity varies with the type, maturity and growing conditions. Tender leaves bring a distinctive flavour to mixed salads. Firmer forms can also be cooked, braised or grilled. Pairing them with sweet or fruity ingredients creates contrasts, rather than treating every chicory as interchangeable in a single recipe. Their texture can be as important as their bitterness.

When allowed to flower, chicories may develop branching stems bearing blue flower heads. Forms close to wild chicory sometimes have dandelion-like foliage. Flowering changes the outline of a plant previously valued mainly for its leaves or compact head.

For your garden, the appeal lies in this variety of colours, textures and uses. A single time to harvest, or an identical method of picking for every type, would be misleading. Baby leaves, mature heads and forced chicons represent different stages of development and different vegetables on the plate.

Chicory
Chicory
Characteristics
  • Lifecycle : Annual
  • Exposure : Full Sun
  • Frost Hardiness : Frost Resistant
  • Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
  • Mature height : 60 cm
Sowing & Planting
  • Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
  • Plant Spacing : 20 cm
  • Row Spacing : 30 cm
Maintenance
  • Maintenance : Low
  • Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
  • Soil Type : Humus-rich
  • Soil pH Preference : Neutral
  • Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Pollination : Insect-pollinated
  • Propagation : Sowing