How to grow chicory

Cichorium intybus · radicchio, witloof

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) — a bitter-leaved salad crop sown from seed: radicchio makes a tight red head, sugarloaf chicory a tall green one, and witloof roots are forced in the dark into pale chicons. If left to run to flower it carries blue flowers. Chicory grows best in full sun. Water it about every 3 days while it grows.

Updated: November 4, 2026

When to sow chicory?

Sow for seedlings about 4 weeks before planting out.

It tolerates light frost: plant out in open ground about three weeks before your last spring frost.

The first harvest comes about 80 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Latin name	Cichorium intybus
Family	Asteraceae
Also called	radicchio, witloof
Planted as	seed
How it is started	from seedlings
Life span	grown for one season
Planting season	spring
Light	Full sun
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for sowing	from 5 °C
Germination	5 days
Pricking out	14 days after the shoots appear
Seedlings ready	20 days
Shoots to harvest	80 days
Grown in	Open ground, At home

How long does it take to grow chicory?

From sowing to the first harvest: about 85 days (12 weeks). Shoots appear after about 5 days, the seedlings are ready to plant out at about day 25, and the first harvest comes about 60 days after planting out.

Germination — 5 days
Seedlings — 20 days
In the bed — 60 days

Step	Day
Sowing	0
Shoots appear	5
Pricking out	19
Seedlings ready to plant out	25
First harvest	85

Days count from the day of sowing or planting, by the figures of the card.

Chicory is number 28 of 63 on our list from the fastest crop to the slowest. Close to it on the list: soybean (80 days), carrot (84 days), sweet corn (85 days), watermelon (87 days). Days to harvest: all vegetables, herbs and berries

Chicory care by growth stage

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 2 days	16…20 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	16…18 °C	—
Harvest	every 3 days	16…18 °C	—

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 2 days	16…20 °C	—
Growth	every 3 days	16…18 °C	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage; balanced (NPK), 14 days into the stage; balanced (NPK), 28 days into the stage; balanced (NPK), 42 days into the stage
Harvest	every 3 days	16…18 °C	—

Growing notes

Light

Open, sunny site; it tolerates some shade in summer, so it can grow between taller crops.

Soil

Dig in plenty of garden compost or well-rotted manure a few weeks before sowing or planting. Also grows in a container at least 30 cm wide filled with peat-free multi-purpose compost.

Care

Sow indoors in April–May and plant out in late May or June, once the weather is warm: starting it in the cold makes it bolt. Seed goes dormant in soil above 25 °C. Plants grow best at 15–18 °C, and hardened transplants survive down to −6 °C. Space radicchio and sugarloaf types at least 30 cm apart. Water thoroughly in dry weather, as drought makes the leaves bitter and brings bolting. In the ground it needs no feed; in a container give a general-purpose liquid feed every two weeks through summer. Radicchio heads are ready about 50–65 days after planting out; sow every three weeks for a steady supply. For witloof, lift the roots after a few light frosts, store them near 0 °C, then force them in complete darkness at 13–21 °C: chicons are ready in three to four weeks. Protect from slugs and snails.

Other plants of the Asteraceae family

Chicory belongs to Asteraceae; 20 other plants of this family have a guide here.

Plant lists it is in

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.