Chicory: summer roots, winter chicons

Choose by flavour, shape and use

Hollandse middelvroege: Hollandse middelvroege is a named forcing chicory selection for forcing with or without covering soil. Growing consists of a root stage and a forcing stage. Use the pale heads raw as salad leaves, or cook whole or halved heads. Healthy heads provide compact portions.

Chicory bitterness is general crop information. The source establishes no distinctive aroma for Hollandse middelvroege.

Brussels forcing chicory: This offering describes Brussels chicory without a further variety name. Compact pale heads follow separate root growing and forcing. Use firm leaves as little salad cups or cook the whole head. The compact harvested part is easy to divide into portions.

The source describes a delicate flavour; bitterness is part of chicory as a crop. The listing does not establish a separate cultivar with its own aroma.

A leaf bed is not yet a forced chicon

Green summer leaves feed the root. The familiar white head is new forced growth with light excluded. Sow suitable forcing chicory; random chicory or radicchio does not automatically give the same compact head in a dark bucket.

Start outdoors with a straight taproot

Sow directly in a fine, deeply loosened bed. May is a useful starting point for many Dutch forcing-chicory crops; follow variety and weather advice. Direct sowing avoids disturbing taproots. Keep the surface moist until plants root sufficiently.

Thick roots need space

Thin promptly following variety guidance so plants do not remain a dense grass-like edge. For general outdoor growing, De Bolster gives about 12 cm within rows and 35 cm between rows. Guidelines, not guarantees for every variety or soil.

Let the root build reserves steadily

Weed shallowly and maintain even moisture during drought. Do not apply nitrogen on a guess; excessive weak leaf growth is not the aim. Let healthy leaves function. If plants fail, check drainage and root quality too: rotten roots are unsuitable for forcing later.

Lift the root with the crown intact

In autumn, loosen soil widely beside the plant. Lift the taproot as intact as possible and select firm, healthy roots. Trim leaves above the crown, leaving the growing point intact. Follow dormancy or cold-storage advice before forcing.

Give roots their own dark growing space

Force a small batch and store other roots cool following appropriate instructions. Stand selected roots upright, not flat, in slightly moist substrate. Choose covering soil or dark covering by variety; simply upturning a bucket is no variety choice.

Darkness and moderate warmth keep growth manageable

For many forcing crops, around 10–15 °C is useful. Warm living rooms can produce fast, loose growth. Measure rather than guess and follow variety or supplier advice. Light greens growth and may increase bitterness; covering must be truly opaque.

Check without flooding the container

Keep substrate slightly moist without persistent mud around roots. Inspect the batch briefly for rot and remove affected roots. Poor roots, damaged growing points or wrong temperatures produce loose or failed heads. Extra feed cannot restore a broken crown.

A closed chicon is the reward

Harvest once heads are compact and usable. Forcing without covering soil commonly takes a few weeks; temperature and root reserves determine timing. Cut or break at the crown and store cool and dark. Do not count a second forcing as an equal full harvest.