Salad leaf
How to grow chicory and radicchio
Cichorium intybus
Chicory is sown direct in full sun from May to July, later than most salads, because early sowings meet cold nights and bolt. Choose the type first: Witloof roots are lifted in November and forced in the dark for chicons, while radicchio and sugarloaf heart up outdoors for cutting from September to December. All three want deep, free-draining soil that has not been freshly manured, and almost no feeding.
- Hardiness
- Hardy; forcing roots lifted in autumn
- Position
- Full sun
- Soil
- Deep, fertile, free-draining
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.0
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting chicory and radicchio
WhenSow May to Jul (Witloof May to Jun); force Nov to Mar; radicchio harvest Sep to Dec
Starting off
Direct sow Witloof types May to June, radicchio June to July and sugarloaf in July, germinating in 7 to 14 days at 10 to 20 °C; earlier sowings bolt. For chicons, lift Witloof roots in November, trim leaves to 2 cm and roots to 20 cm, pot three to a 20 cm pot, cover with an upturned pot and keep at 10 to 15 °C: chicons form in 3 to 4 weeks.
Spacing and planting
Sow 1 cm deep in drills 30 cm apart and thin to 20 to 25 cm for radicchio and sugarloaf types, 20 cm for Witloof forcing roots. Radicchio will heart in a 25 cm pot; forcing types need deep open soil for a straight, tapered root.
Varieties worth growing
- Witloof Zoom F1
- The standard forcing chicory. Makes tight chicons without a covering of soil, so it can be forced under an upturned pot.
- Palla Rossa
- Round red radicchio that hearts reliably from a late June or July sowing and colours as the nights cool.
- Rossa di Treviso
- Tall, pointed red radicchio. Hardier than the round types, and the roots can also be lifted and forced for pale pink shoots.
- Pan di Zucchero (Sugar Loaf)
- Big green cos-shaped head whose tight outer leaves blanch the heart for you. The mildest chicory and the easiest to start with.
- Variegata di Castelfranco
- Cream leaves splashed with red, looser and milder than red radicchio. Best cut in late autumn from under a cloche.
Chicory and radicchio month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Bring stored Witloof roots into the dark a few at a time and force at 10 to 15 °C. Cut the first chicons.
- February
Force the last batches. Cut a second, smaller flush from roots forced in December.
- March
Finish forcing and compost the spent roots. Order seed.
- April
Nothing to sow yet. Loosen the bed deeply and rake out stones.
- May
Sow Witloof types direct from mid May. Keep the drill moist until seedlings show.
- June
Last Witloof sowing by mid June. Sow radicchio from late June. Thin earlier rows to 20 cm.
- July
Sow radicchio and sugarloaf. Thin to 20 to 25 cm and hoe between rows.
- August
Water weekly in dry spells so the plants keep growing steadily. Watch for slugs.
- September
Cut the first sugarloaf and radicchio heads as the hearts firm up.
- October
Cover later heads with cloches before hard frost. Remove any rotting outer leaves.
- November
Lift Witloof roots, trim, and store flat in boxes of dry sand in a frost-free shed. Start the first batch forcing.
- December
Force a pot of roots every two or three weeks. Cut the last radicchio from under cloches.
Feeding chicory and radicchio
A light feeder. Soil in good heart from the previous crop is enough, and extra nitrogen gives soft heads that rot and forcing roots that do not keep.
Low-to-moderate, over-rich soil softens the forcing types.
Feeding plan
The previous autumn or spring
Garden compost
Applied for the crop before chicory. Add nothing fresh in the chicory year, especially for Witloof roots.
A week before sowing, poor or sandy soil only
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m², the bottom of the label range, raked in. With rows 30 cm apart that is about 20 g per metre of row (70 × 0.3). On ground fed for an earlier crop, none.
Every 3 weeks from thinning to September, optional
1 g per litre of water over the leaves and soil. One 9 litre can (9 g) covers about 3 m of row.
Forcing, November to March
Nothing
The root carries everything the chicon needs. Do not feed forced roots.
Signs to watch
Loose, open or green chicons
Light reaching the forced roots or a temperature above 18 °C, not nutrition
Force in complete darkness at 10 to 15 °C
Bolting to a blue flower in the first summer
An early sowing hit by cold
Sow after May
Soft rosettes and roots that rot in store
Excess nitrogen
No top-dressing
Pests, diseases and problems
Seedlings grazed off, ragged holes in the outer leaves of hearting plants
Slugs and snails, worst in a damp autumn when the heads are closing up
Keep the row weeded and open, pick slugs off after dark, and water in nematodes in late summer while the soil is still warm. Strip the damaged outer leaves at harvest; the heart is usually clean.
Outer leaves of radicchio and sugarloaf heads turn brown and slimy from October
Grey mould and soft rots in wet, still weather
Pull off rotting leaves as soon as you see them, cover the row with an open-ended cloche to keep rain off the heads, and cut any head that has started to go rather than leaving it to stand.
White powdery coating on the leaves in late summer
Powdery mildew on plants that are dry at the root
Water the row thoroughly once a week in dry spells and thin to the full spacing so air moves between plants. Late growth usually comes clean once autumn rain arrives.
Forced roots rot in the pot, or chicons turn brown and soft at the base
Compost kept too wet, or roots damaged at lifting
Force only sound, undamaged roots at least 3 cm across at the top. Pack them in barely moist compost, water once, and do not water again unless it dries right out.
Witloof roots forked and stumpy at lifting, giving several small chicons instead of one
Stones, compacted soil or fresh manure in the bed
Grow forcing types on deep ground that was manured for the previous crop, loosened to a full fork's depth before sowing. Thin on time, as crowding also gives poor roots.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Cut radicchio heads September to December when the heart is firm and frost-coloured, 14 to 16 weeks from sowing; cut sugarloaf at 30 cm like a cos. Cut Witloof chicons at 10 to 15 cm at the base, and a smaller second flush follows. A 1 m row gives 4 to 5 heads. Radicchio keeps 2 weeks in the fridge; chicons a week in the dark.
Rotation and companions
Rotation: daisy family (Asteraceae) with lettuce and endive, 3-year gap, usually grouped with the salads. Sow after early peas, broad beans or garlic are cleared; it tolerates the shade of sweetcorn or runner beans in summer.
Good to knowForcing (Witloof) types are lifted and forced in the dark to make 'chicons'; radicchio types colour up with cold.
Growing chicory and radicchio in pots
Radicchio and sugarloaf grow well in pots: one plant to a 25 cm pot of about 8 litres, or three in a 40 cm tub, in peat-free multipurpose compost. Sow two or three seeds in the pot in late June or July and thin to the strongest. Keep the compost evenly moist, since a pot that dries out gives bitter leaves and a plant that bolts. Witloof roots for forcing need open ground to make a straight root, but the forcing itself is a container job: three trimmed roots in a 20 cm pot of old compost, covered with a second pot with the drainage hole blocked.
Chicory and radicchio: common questions
Is chicory the same as endive?
No, they are two related species. Chicory (Cichorium intybus) includes Witloof, radicchio and sugarloaf and is sown in early summer for autumn and winter; endive (Cichorium endivia) is the frilly or broad-leaved salad sown from spring. The confusion comes from the forced Witloof chicon, which is sold as endive in France and the United States.
Why is my radicchio green and not red?
Radicchio only colours when the nights turn cold, so a green plant in September is normal. Most varieties grow green or bronze through summer and turn red from October, and the red heart is hidden under green outer leaves that you peel away at harvest.
Can you eat chicory leaves without forcing?
Yes, but unforced Witloof leaves are very bitter and are better cooked than eaten raw. For salad without forcing, grow sugarloaf or radicchio, whose hearts blanch themselves inside the outer leaves.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.