Endive or Witloof Chicory (Cichorium intybus var. foliosum), also known as chicon in Northern France and Belgium, is a chicory cultivated for its leaves. But not its first green leaves in your vegetable garden. No, no... The endive or chicon, once pulled from the soil and prepared, is replanted in darkness. This is called forcing. It's how this second production of tightly packed leaves achieves its characteristic white-yellow colour: the chicon is finally ready to be harvested and eaten raw, in gratins, braised...
Required materials
- rake
- hand fork
- biofork or aerofork (facultative) to loosen the soil without turning it over
- hoe with a pick end to dig the furrow
- garden line
- Watering can
- seed sower (facultative)
When to sow endives?
Endives are sown in May-June, directly in open ground in the vegetable garden
Witloof Chicory
How to sow endives?
- Sow your endive seeds in sun or partial shade in well-prepared soil: weeded, loosened and raked;
- The seeds are sown thinly in a 1 cm deep furrow in rows spaced 30 cm apart;
- Close the furrow using the rake and lightly firm with the back of it;
- The seeds germinate in just 3 to 5 days at 20°C;
- After 3 to 4 weeks of growth, the young plants are well developed (stage 3 - 4 leaves). Thin out then (remove the young plant) to keep only one young plant every 15 cm;
- Water with a fine spray.
In very heavy, clay soil, you can sow your chicons on a mound. This way, the roots will be long and straight, and easier to remove.
Once germinated and thinned out, Witloof chicory requires no specific maintenance, except for regular hoeing, weeding and watering. To learn more about growing endives, follow Ingrid's advice: How to grow endives successfully.
Once forced, the endive turns white
Comments