Last edited on October 30, 2026. View history
Chicory
Chicory
Common chicory (Cichorium intybus) is a somewhat woody, perennial herbaceous plant of the dandelion family Asteraceae, usually with bright blue flowers, rarely white or pink.
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- plantings
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- harvests
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- seed packets
Chicory facts
Lifespan
Height
100cmRow Spacing
15cm median of members' seed packetsGermination
7–14 days median of members' seed packetsDays until maturity
130–150 days median of members' seed packetsWhen to sow
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For chicory, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 6°C and a shortest growing cycle of 90 days at its best temperature, about 1260 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your chicory will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
How members grow chicory
Sunniness
Planted from
Photos
Photos
Chicory crops
Chicory plantings
Where chicory grow
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What people are saying about chicory
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Who's planted chicory
- shiny seedlings frames · Wellington, NZ
- Nibley_Leaves Bed 6
Chicory harvests
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 90 to 330 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Cichorium intybus L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Asterales Compositae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -5 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | biennial, perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about chicory
Resources outside Growstuff.
