How to Grow Chicories

By the SoilCommander Editorial Team, under the guidance of Nitin Sharma, Co-Founder · · How we check our facts

On this page
  1. Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
  2. Soil & Growing Conditions
  3. Growth Stages
  4. Quick Facts
  5. At a Glance
  6. Harvest & Storage
  7. Diseases
  8. Pests
  9. Plan your Chicories planting
  10. Growing Chicory in another region
  11. Sources
  12. Frequently Asked Questions

Chicory is ready to harvest 30–60 days after planting.

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) — perennial.

Unlike an annual crop, the work here is front-loaded into establishment: get the planting and the site right and the same plants crop for several seasons.

The short answer

Ready in
30–60 days
Site
6+ hours of sun, soil pH 6–7.5
Biggest risk
Grey mould

Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

A young chicory rosette of leaves before flowering — “Cichorium intybus sl18” by Stefan.lefnaer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

6 sources cited · Verified

Soil & Growing Conditions

Chicory's wiry, branching flowering stems — “Cichorium intybus, la Cellera de Ter” by Josep Gesti is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Cichorium intybus, la Cellera de Ter” by Josep Gesti is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Soil pH range

6 7.5

Span reflects genuine variation between the cited authorities, not a single agreed figure.

Growth Stages

A chicory plant with several blue flowers on wiry stems — “Chicory flowers, near Atherfield, Isle of Wight, England” by ITookSomePhotos is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Chicory flowers, near Atherfield, Isle of Wight, England” by ITookSomePhotos is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Stage BBCH Notes
Sowing and germination 0 Sow forcing types outdoors May-June, radicchio/sugarloaf indoors April-May or outdoors June-July, all at about 1cm depth in rows 30cm apart (RHS).
Thinning and leaf growth 1 Thin to 15cm apart for forcing types, 30cm for radicchio/sugarloaf, or 5cm for baby leaf crops; water thoroughly in dry weather to deter bolting and bitter leaves (RHS).
Heading (radicchio/sugarloaf) or root bulking (forcing types) 4 Radicchio and sugarloaf form heads through summer for a late-summer harvest; forcing chicory instead bulks up its root through summer ahead of winter lifting and forcing (RHS).
Harvest, or lifting and forcing 8 Radicchio/sugarloaf harvested as whole heads from late summer. Forcing chicory is dug up in November, roots stored and then forced in the dark at 10-15°C, yielding pale chicons at 15cm tall after about 4 weeks, through winter into early spring (RHS).

Quick Facts

Close-up of a pale blue chicory flower — “Cichorium intybus” by Marcus Lüpke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Cichorium intybus” by Marcus Lüpke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Factor Value
Soil pH 6 - 7.5
Sunlight 6-6 hours direct sun
Optimal growing temp 10-30°C
Minimum survivable temp -5°C
Time to harvest 30-60 days
Drainage Well-drained
Lifecycle perennial
Edible parts leaves, root (forced chicons)

At a Glance

Close-up of a pale blue chicory flower — “Cichorium intybus” by Marcus Lüpke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Cichorium intybus” by Marcus Lüpke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Cichorium intybus Chicory Grey mould Powdery mildew Aphids Slugs Snails DISEASES PESTS

Harvest & Storage

A field of chicory in flower with pale blue blooms — “Cichorium intybus MG 8535” by Assianir is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
“Cichorium intybus MG 8535” by Assianir is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

When to pick: RHS: cut-and-come-again leaves ready "just a month or two after sowing"; forced chicons ready "about four weeks" after potting up, harvested "once the chicon is 15cm (6in) tall, by cutting it at the base"; mature whole heads ready from late summer to mid-autumn.

Storage

Forced chicons and cut leaves best used fresh, short storage life

Diseases

Chicory's wiry, branching flowering stems — “Cichorium intybus, la Cellera de Ter” by Josep Gesti is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Cichorium intybus, la Cellera de Ter” by Josep Gesti is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fuzzy grey-brown Botrytis mould covering a tomato stem — Rasbak, CC BY-SA 3.0
Rasbak, CC BY-SA 3.0
Grey mould

Botrytis cinerea

Soft brown fruit decay; Fuzzy grey-brown mould

Pests

Chicory's wiry, branching flowering stems — “Cichorium intybus, la Cellera de Ter” by Josep Gesti is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Cichorium intybus, la Cellera de Ter” by Josep Gesti is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Aphididae (various spp.)

Slugs

Gastropoda (slugs, various spp.)

Snails

Gastropoda (snails, various spp.)

Plan your Chicories planting

Timing for Chicories follows soil temperature and frost, not the calendar date. The Global vegetable planting calendar explains the method. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.

Growing Chicory in another region

Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.

Sources

These 3 sources are specific to this region. The full list of 6 sources behind this guide (CABI Compendium, FAO EcoCrop, GBIF and others) is in the references of our UK guide to chicory; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does chicory take to grow?

Typically 30–60 days, depending on cultivar and growing conditions.

What soil pH does chicory need?

A pH of about 6–7.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.

What problems affect chicory?

Our data links 2 diseases and 3 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.

Plan next season before the problems start

This page gives you the thresholds; the planner turns them into your own calendar. It works from what you can observe and measure in your garden rather than from dates written for somebody else’s latitude.

Get the Global Garden Planner →

Instant PDF download · Works in either hemisphere

SoilCommander Editorial Team — under the guidance of Nitin Sharma, Co-Founder

Every growing guide is checked against RHS, USDA Cooperative Extension, and other named horticultural authorities before publishing. How we check our facts.

How this guide is put together

The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against international horticultural research and extension sources. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.

Vegetable Growing Guides

Crops With the Same Problems

Related Problem Guides

Last verified 2026-09-02

Related guides

More from the same group (leaves & salads):

Relevant next steps

Where To Go From Here

Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.

Global garden plannerTurn this crop guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and a harvest record. All growing guidesBrowse every crop we cover for your region, A to Z. Planting CalendarSee how this crop fits alongside everything else you are growing.

Keep going

This guide in another region
Global UK USA Canada
Top tips for October
  • Plant garlic before hard frosts
  • Protect late salads with fleece
  • Store squash somewhere dry
  • Mulch empty beds
Free Tool
soilcommander.com/pages/vegetable-garden-layout-planner-tool
1 · Shape
2 · Crops
3 · Conditions
4 · Plan
Choose your garden shape
🍅
Bed 1
Tomatoes
🍌
Bed 2
Legumes
🥦
Bed 3
Brassicas
🥕
Bed 4
Roots
🥥
Bed 5
Alliums
🌿
Herbs & More

Free planning tool

Plan your veg garden before you dig a single inch

Sketch your exact plot shape, pick your crops, and get a spacing-accurate bed layout with companion pairings and a rotation plan. Spacing, companion pairings and rotation are the same in every climate and both hemispheres — pair the layout it gives you with when to plant to set your own timing from soil temperature.

Garden Layout Planner Tool

Free to use. Nothing to install.

Plan the next step

Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.

Get Planner