Chicory Seeds

Growing suggestions for chicory seeds

Sow chicory seeds in late spring to mid summer in situ; space rows 30cm apart. Thin out to about 30cm. Or sow in modules/ trays and transplant to get best results.

Useful for intercropping, as tolerates light shade from overhanging plants. Cut heads from late summer until October; protect plants when overwintered outdoors.

Chicory growing calendar

Crop facts

Chicory developed from a common wild plant of Europe, western Asia, and Africa. It was known to the Romans who ate it as a vegetable or in salads, however modern cultivation of the plant began in the fifteenth century in Italy. On the Continent, Chicory is much cultivated, not only as a salad and vegetable, but also for fodder and more especially for the sake of its root, which roasted and ground, gets made into a coffee alternative.