Radicchio growth stages

by Jean HendrickDecember 1997 from issue #12

I was living in Annapolis when New American art swept in from the West Coast. I wanted to do cooking and gardening, so I embraced this new style and the emphasis on really fresh and full of flavor food. I plucked from my little garden or shopped at the central market in downtown Annapolis to find the best produce I could find. I looked at cookbooks, reinterpreted recipes, and created amazing food for my catering business and restaurant.

Origin

Radicchio is also known as Italian chicory and comes from the chicory plant.

The vegetable is part of the Asteraceae plant family which also includes sunflowers.

Radicchio: origin and characteristics

Bella Italia is the largest area for growing radicchio, which makes perfect sense as this is the origin of most varieties. To this day, Northern Italy is still home to the most diverse set of plants of this genus. For a long time, radicchio was cultivated exclusively in that region because they do very well there. The crop is so central to the towns of Chioggia and Treviso in northern Italy that the two most important varieties of radicchio come from there. Since around 1985, however, it has been possible to grow it outside the region, so today it is widely cultivated in Spain and France.

In the past, it was mainly grown as a biennial plant, today it is usually cultivated as an annual plant. It forms a strong taproot – a straight tapering root that grows vertically downwards and forms the center from which subsidiary roots emerge. Depending on the variety it can develop a thick leaf rosette with a firm or loose lettuce head. Also, some types grow round or elongated. Lettuce leaves are usually red with a white marble pattern, but some are completely red, green or a shade of yellow. In more northern latitudes radicchio is usually propagated indoors and not directly sown in an open field, this reduces the risk of no flowering.

When to Plant Chicory

• Chicory and radicchio are hardy season perennials that are best grown in spring and early summer in cold winter regions and fall and winter in warm-winter regions. .
• Sow chicory seeds in the garden 2 to 3 weeks before the average date of the last spring frost. Cool temperatures produce the sweetest tasting chicory and radicchio.
• Grow chicory and radicchio in temperatures from 45° to 75°F (7-24°C).
• Chicory and radicchio need between 85 and 100 days to harvest depending on the variety.
• Belgian endives are often grown indoors as the second stage of plant growth; climate is not a factor.

• Plant chicory and radicchio seeds ¼ inch deep and 1 to 2 inches (2.5-7.6cm) apart.
• Space rows 24 to 36 inches (61-91cm) apart.
• Thin plants 6 to 18 inches (15-45cm) apart when seedlings are four inches tall. You can eat the thinners.
• Result: For chicory root, plant 1 to 2 plants per family member. For radicchio, grow 5 to 6 plants per family member. In the case of Belgian endive plants 6 to 8 plants per family member.
• Companion Plants: plant chicory and radicchio with other greens, but not with peas or beans.

Sun and Temperature

Radicchio plants love sunlight, but not too much heat. Although it can tolerate full sun to light shade, keep your garden’s ambient temperature in mind. If growing in the spring as the weather warms up, plant in the afternoon shade and the hot days. In the fall, place plants in full sun as the days cool. Because radicchio only needs about 3 hours of sunlight per day, you can be flexible about where to plant this vegetable!

Ripe radicchio can tolerate a light frost or a few hot days, but it is best grown in the mild weather days between summer and winter. A long frost could kill it. Conversely, a long spell of heat can cause the leaves to burn, or the radicchio to turn bitter. Depending on the zone you are in, you can grow it through the winter for a winter harvest (think USDA zones 9-11).