Chicory
Called chicory or chicory endive, it is a delicious herbaceous garden plant that is prepared mainly in mixed salads or as a gratin with béchamel sauce. The root of the wild chicory is also used to mix in coffee and obtain a tasty hot drink. The different varieties of chicory come from two distinct groups: curly endives and escarole endives. Among the best-known garden varieties are the "frisée de Meaux", the "géante maraîchère", the "cornet d'Anjou", the "wallone" and the "reine d'hiver". Endive belongs to the Asteraceae family just like lettuce.
To cultivate endives, you can start by sowing them in May. You can also plant your chicory directly in the ground from the beginning of April until the end of October, depending on the region of plantation. Chicory likes rich and sandy soil. Make sure that the soil in your garden is well drained, this is essential for optimal growth. Choose an exposure that is half sunny so as not to risk burning the leaves when exposed to too much sun.
Endive is one of the easiest vegetables to grow in a garden! A hardy herbaceous plant, endive requires very little maintenance in your garden. It takes between 8 and 13 weeks to obtain mature endive. Everything will depend on how you planted them in your garden. If they are seedlings, you will have a harvest from the thirteenth week. Count a little less time, around the eighth week if it is a transplant. Endive is a hardy herbaceous plant that requires very little maintenance in your garden.
Chicory
- Type : Vegetables
- Subtype : Leafy vegetables
- Botanical family : Asteraceae (composites)
Characteristics
- Exposure : Sun
- Hardiness : Frost resistant
- Easy to grow, but requires regular maintenance (difficulty : 2/3)
Sowing & planting
- Sowing depth : 1 cm
- Plant spacing : 20 cm
- Row spacing : 30 cm
- Emergence time : 10 days
- Emergence temperature : 18 °C
- From sowing to harvesting : 120 days
- Seed storage : 10 years