Chicory Growing Guide
Chicory is known for its distinctively bitter leaves and comes in three main types: forcing (Belgian), radicchio, and sugarloaf. It can be harvested as young baby salad leaves or large mature heads. The bitterness of the leaves can be reduced by blanching (keeping them out of light). Beyond culinary uses, chicory (Cichorium intybus) can also be grown as an ornamental plant for its pretty blue flowers, which attract pollinators, and its roots have traditionally been used to make a coffee substitute.
This guidance applies to the crop in general. Individual varieties and local conditions can differ.
Planting information
Avoid sowing too early outdoors as cold can cause bolting. Forcing chicory can be sown outdoors in May and June. Non-forcing chicory can be sown indoors in April and May, and outdoors in June and July. For cut-and-come-again baby salad leaves, sow non-forcing varieties outdoors in spring and summer, or in a greenhouse in late winter for early harvests and in late summer/early autumn for winter harvests. Indoors: Sow seeds in small pots, seed trays, or modular trays filled with moist, peat-free seed compost. Keep in a warm, bright location (e.g., windowsill, heated propagator). Seedlings appear in a few days. Once seedlings have several leaves, move them to individual modules/pots before planting out when growing strongly and weather is warm. Outdoors: Sow seeds thinly into prepared ground, 1cm deep in rows 30cm apart. Protect seedlings from slugs and snails. Thin out seedlings as they grow until forcing varieties are 15cm apart, non-forcing 30cm apart, and baby salad leaf varieties 5cm apart. Chicory can also be sown in large containers (at least 30cm wide) and thinned to these spacings. Young chicory plants, whether grown from seed indoors or bought, can be planted outside from late May or early June, depending on weather conditions. Delay planting if it's still cold to prevent bolting. Harden off plants carefully before transplanting. Plant into prepared ground and water thoroughly before and after planting. Space forcing varieties 15cm apart, non-forcing varieties 30cm apart, and plants for baby salad leaves 5cm apart. Protect from slugs and snails, especially in damp weather. For winter harvests of cut-and-come-again salad leaves, plant non-forcing chicory (sown in late summer) in a greenhouse in autumn, either in a large container or a greenhouse border.
Harvesting information
Witloof: lift roots in November, keeping those at least 2.5cm wide at the crown. Trim leaves to 2.5cm above the crown. To force shoots, pot roots upright in moist peat-free compost with crowns exposed, cover to exclude light and keep at 10-15°C. Cut the pale chicons at the base when about 15cm tall, usually around four weeks after forcing starts. Re-cover the stump for possible smaller regrowth. Radicchio and sugarloaf: cut mature heads from late summer into autumn, following the cultivar season; protect later crops from frost. Leave an undamaged stump for possible regrowth and discard tough outer leaves. Baby salad leaves: start cutting roughly one to two months after sowing. Keep blanched leaves out of light to preserve their paler colour and milder flavour.
Storage information
Keep harvested radicchio whole in the fridge for about one to two weeks; remove outer leaves as needed and wash before use. Store lifted Witloof roots horizontally in sand in a cool shed until forcing. These roots are an intermediate crop, not the edible chicons.