Gadenin日本語Get the appSow for the cool end of the season, not the warm one
Chicory is a long-season crop that finishes in cold weather. Everything good about it, the tight heart, the sweetness under the bitterness, the fat forcing root, comes from growing through falling temperatures. Sown too early it runs to flower in its first summer; sown too late it never bulks up before the ground goes cold.
The window that works for almost every type is from early summer to the middle of summer, once the soil sits above 60F (15C) and while there are still three to four months of growing weather ahead. Heading types need roughly 80 to 110 days from sowing to a firm heart. Forcing types grown for the root need a full 150 to 180 days in the ground before you lift them, which is why they go in earliest of all.
A spring sowing is only sensible for the loose-leaf cutting types you intend to eat as small leaves. Those never need to form a heart, so bolting matters less. Anything you want a head or a root from should wait until the longest days have passed.
| Type | When to sow | Days to lift or cut | What decides success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forcing types (grown for the root) | Early summer, earliest of all | 150 to 180 days to lifting | Root thickness at lifting |
| Red heading types | Early to midsummer | 80 to 100 days | Cold nights while the heart fills |
| Tall green heading types | Midsummer | 80 to 110 days | Even moisture through heading |
| Loose-leaf cutting types | Spring or late summer | 35 to 50 days to first cut | Frequent cutting before leaves coarsen |
Depth, spacing and the first three weeks
The seed is small and flat and wants a quarter of an inch (5 mm) of cover, no more. Deeper than half an inch (12 mm) and germination goes patchy. Firm the drill bottom with a board edge before sowing so the seed sits at one level and comes up as one flush, then sift fine soil over it and press the surface with your palm.
Germination takes five to ten days at soil temperatures of 60 to 75F (15 to 24C). Above 85F (30C) it slows and becomes uneven, which is a real risk for a midsummer sowing into bare ground. Sow in the evening, water the drill before you sow rather than after, and lay a board or a sheet of shade fabric over the row until the first shoots show. Take it off the same day they appear or the seedlings stretch.
Sow three or four seeds every station and thin to one. Chicory does not transplant as forgivingly as lettuce: a forcing type whose taproot is disturbed will fork, and a forked root is far harder to force cleanly. Direct sowing is the default for anything grown for the root.
- Water the drill, then sow Run water along the open drill and let it soak in before the seed goes down. Watering afterwards washes the fine covering off and drags seed into clumps.
- Sow in stations Three or four seeds every 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm) for heading types, every 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) for forcing roots. Rows 14 to 18 inches (35 to 45 cm) apart.
- Thin at the second true leaf Pull the weaker seedlings out and leave the sturdiest one. Snip them off at ground level rather than pulling if the neighbors are close, so the survivor's roots stay put.
- Thin again a fortnight later Check the final spacing once the plants have five or six leaves. Crowded heading chicory makes loose hearts that rot from the inside in wet autumn weather.
Thinnings from a heading type are worth eating small, but do not leave them in place hoping both plants will make a head. Two crowded plants give you nothing usable; one gives you a head.
The soil the root wants
For forcing types you are growing a root, and roots respond to soil texture more than to feeding. Dig the bed a full spade deep and break up any pan, because a taproot that hits compacted soil forks into two or three fingers and those will not stand upright in a forcing box. Stones do the same thing on a smaller scale, so pick out what you can.
Do not add fresh manure before a root crop. Rich, recently manured ground gives you a mass of leaf and a forked, hairy root with too much water in it. Ground manured for a previous crop is ideal. A light dressing of a balanced feed at sowing is enough, and after that the plant should be finding its own way down.
Bolting in the first season, and how to avoid it
Chicory is a biennial: it makes a root and a rosette in year one, then flowers in year two after winter cold. Sow it too early and a spell of cold nights in late spring can convince a young plant it has already had its winter, so it sends up a flower stem in its first summer instead of heading. The head never comes, the leaves turn tough and viciously bitter, and the root is useless for forcing.
Two things prevent it. Sow after midsummer's day for heading types so the seedlings never meet a cold snap while small, and keep growth unbroken. A plant that dries out hard and then gets flooded is far more likely to bolt than one kept evenly moist. If a plant does throw a stem, pull it out; there is no recovering the head.
Write down the sowing date and which end of the row each type went into. Chicory seedlings of different types look identical for the first month, and the sowing date is the only thing that tells you whether a plant is late or has bolted.