Cichorium intybus
Family: Asteraceae
Common Name: Red Chicory

Red chicory is a hardy, perennial salad vegetable which is usually grown as an annual. The plant has a low habit of growth, forming a rather tight heart of leaves, the outside leaves being red-green in colour and with a very bitter taste. The inner leaves are not so well coloured and are usually whitish. They are crispy and not quite so bitter. The leaves are used rather like lettuce in salads, and are usually shredded. However, they may also be used as a cooked vegetable.

Cultivation

Radicchio or red chicory is suitable for a wide range of climates, as it is very hardy. There are numerous cultivars with various degrees of frost-tolerance, and some are incredibly hardy. There are also F1 hybrids available with a very uniform habit of growth. And they have tighter hearts than older, non-hybrid cultivars. Radicchio will grow in any fertile, well-drained garden soil. Dig it well before sowing and incorporate bulky organic matter. Radicchio is generally grown for use in the tall or winter. Seed is sown outside from early summer to midsummer, where the plants are to grow. Plants should have a spacing of up to 35 cm (14 in) apart each way. Either harvest single leaves or the entire plant. In very cold areas, place cloches over the plants in late autumn. Alternatively, plants can be lifted carefully, with some soil around their roots, and replanted in an unheated greenhouse.

Climate

Zone 3.