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
Forcing chicory can be harvested through winter and early spring. Chicons (small leafy heads) are ready when 15cm tall, after about four weeks of blanching. Cut them at the base. A second, smaller chicon may form if the stump is left and re-covered. Non-forcing types are ready from late summer when grown as whole heads, or from early summer onwards when grown for baby salad leaves. Radicchio and sugarloaf chicory form lettuce-like heads ready from late summer to mid-autumn. Harvest before the first frosts or protect them. After cutting, leaving the stump may allow a second, smaller head to re-sprout. Discard tough, bitter outer leaves. Blanched inner leaves are sweeter and tangy but will turn green and more bitter if exposed to light after harvesting. Radicchio develops its red color in cooler temperatures. Sugarloaf chicory has a naturally sweeter flavor. For baby salad leaves, harvesting can begin just one or two months after sowing on a cut-and-come-again basis.