Grower’s Corner – chicory
There are two types of chicory: red chicory, which is sometimes known as raddichio and found in mixed salads sold in greengrocers and supermarkets and sugarloaf chicory which resembles lettuce. What most of us know as chicory is actually ‘forced’ which simply means sugarloaf chicory that has been denied light, or forced, in winter to make edible white growths called chicons. It’s a plant that will thrive in a sunny spot with well-drained soil. It can be grown in short rows on the vegetable patch or allotment, but is also ideal for large pots and is therefore one of the rare leaf vegetables that can be grown in a tub and which serves as both a cooked vegetable (excellent baked with cheese and ham) or a winter salad one when individual leaves can be shredded or torn to provide a faintly piquant salad base.
Sowing
Preparing the soil if growing outside by making a seedbed. A week before sowing sprinkle a general purpose fertiliser over it and rake in. Then sow seeds in July (or August if the weather is poor) to harvest between October to December. To sow in rows, stretch a length of string between two canes to make a straight line and make a shallow trench, about 1cm deep, with a garden cane. Sow seeds thinly, then cover and water.
For container growth you can set up a minimum eighteen inch pot with compost, leaving a one inch gap between the surface of the compost and the rim of the pot. Sow seeds thinly across the surface and cover with a half inch layer of vermiculite. Water and stand in a cold frame, or in a slightly shaded space in the garden as it will easily overheat.
Seeds will take about two weeks to germinate. When seedlings are about an inch high, thing them to six inches between plants. If chicory dries out, it will bolt, so water well. Note that radicchio will remain green (see below)
Harvesting
Use a sharp knife to cut off the heads of sugarloaf varieties in late autumn, while varieties grown for their red leaves should only be harvested after a period of cold weather if you want the best deep colour – it’s the cold that causes the colour change.
For forcing, make sure you’ve chosen a variety suitable for forcing. To force, buy dormant plants in pots in autumn, or sow late seed and lift your own plants to place in pots. In November, cut back the growth leaving only short stubs, about an inch and a half, above ground. Put a bucket over the top of the pot to block all light and place it in a frost free environment like a garage or shed checking whether it needs water every third day. In several weeks, tender white chicons will have formed. These can be cut off at the base and the process repeated until spring. After this, remove the bucket and allow plants to grow as normal.
Chicory photographs by Gaetan Lee, used under a creative commons attribution licence