Radicchio and endive

Cichorium

These bitter salad leaves all come from one family. Radicchio forms a tight red head and sugarloaf a tall green heart. Endive and escarole make a loose clump of leaves, which you cover from the light to make them milder. Sown in early summer, they give leaves from late summer into autumn. Sown outdoors too early in spring, they tend to shoot up and flower.

Looking after it

Water: These salads need normal watering. Water thoroughly in dry weather, because dry soil makes the leaves more bitter and the plants flower early. Keep the bed weeded so nothing competes for water. Feeding: They need little feeding. In the ground they usually need none. In a pot or on light soil, give a general liquid feed every two weeks in summer.

Harvest and keeping

Cut radicchio and sugarloaf heads at the base once they are firm. The stump often sprouts a second, smaller head. To make endive milder, cover the dry heart with a plate or a bucket for about two weeks. Then cut it and use it soon. The heads keep several days in the fridge. Keep the pale, covered hearts in the dark, because light turns them green and bitter again.

What can go wrong

Bolting. Flower stems shoot up after cold spells while the plants are young, or in hot, dry weather. Don't sow outdoors too early and water in dry spells. For early sowings, choose varieties that resist bolting.
Slugs and snails. They eat seedlings and hide under the covers you put over endive. Look under the covers every few days and pick them out.
Rot under the cover. The inner leaves rot when the heart is wet under the cover. Cover only dry plants and do a few at a time. Check them often.

Growing facts: RHS, UC ANR and seed-company sowing guides. Radicchio and endive care: RHS. How many to grow: University of Missouri extension. pH: University of Arkansas extension.