Sowing and growing chicory

Sowing chicory, how do you actually do it? There are some different ways, namely from seed, or from chicory root. Here we describe how to grow chicory from seed.

What is chicory?

Chicory, or Chicory, is a perennial plant in the Asteraceae plant family and is actually an herb, not a vegetable. It is a plant native to Europe and Asia and has been cultivated for thousands of years for both food and medicine. The leaves, stems and roots of chicory are edible. The stems and roots can be eaten as vegetables, while the leaves are often used in salads. The roots are most commonly used to make an alternative to coffee, or as a coffee ingredient to reduce acidity.

Traditional medicine also uses “chicory root” for its therapeutic benefits, including mild laxative and digestive stimulating effects. So the root, as mentioned, can also be roasted and ground to make an alternative to coffee. Folate, potassium, dietary fiber and vitamins A, C and K are all believed to be present in significant amounts in chicory.

Sowing chicory: how to do it?

When it is cold and wet in the vegetable garden in the winter, many vegetable gardeners grow their chicory indoors using chicory roots. So this is somewhat different than from chicory seed.

Chicory roots are the already grown roots of chicory. The chicory is cut off and the chicory roots can be reused to grow new chicory.

To grow chicory roots, you can place the chicory roots vertically in a bucket, as close together as possible. Then put sifted seedling soil between them, or just fine garden soil.

But, do you want to grow chicory from seed? Then follow our steps below to grow delicious chicory in your vegetable garden.

Sowing chicory in brief

Choose a location with full sun and well-watered soil. Chicory likes soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.5.
Remove weeds and work the soil with fertilizer.
Sow the chicory seeds directly in your garden at about 0.5 cm depth and 2.5 cm apart.
Water them well and keep the soil moist until the seedlings germinate. That takes about 7 to 14 days.
When they are large enough you can thin them out so they are about 10 cm apart.
Continue to water the chicory well and give them a good organic plant food such as
ECOstyle Kitchen Garden AZ

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Chicory is a biennial plant. So it will take two years before you can harvest chicory. But, after just one year, you can harvest the chicory root and grow chicory from it year after year.

Follow these steps and you will be able to enjoy the tastiest, fresh chicory from your own vegetable garden!