Cichorium intybus var. foliosum 'Radicchio'
Radicchio
Common names: Red Chicory Salad, Cicorino Rosso
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 30 cm, rows 35 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Jun–Jul
- Harvest
- Sep–Nov
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below −6 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Original book source: Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschla… · Public Domain · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Radicchio is an Italian chicory salad plant that produces bright wine‑red leaves with white ribs, forming a firm, round head. Its strong bitter flavor makes it a specialty for autumn and winter, eaten raw in salads, grilled, or braised where the bitterness mellows pleasantly.
Care instructions
Sow in mid‑June so the heads mature during the cooler autumn period, falling temperatures trigger the intense red coloration. Keep the soil consistently moist and allow time for head formation. Harvest the firm heads before hard frost; light frosts deepen color and flavor.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingJun–Jul
HarvestSep–Nov
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 8 °C, ideally 20 °C
- Days to sprout
- 3 to 7 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 1 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
loamy, humus-rich, well-drained
Radicchio needs loose, deep, humus-rich soil with good drainage, as waterlogging quickly leads to root rot. Loosen the soil deeply before planting so that the taproot can develop well, and on heavy soils work in some mature compost.
Lettuce and other daisy-family plants are light to moderate feeders. A break of about 3 years is enough, and they work well as gap fillers between the main crops.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
In spring, when preparing the bed, work in mature compost shallowly. On well-supplied soils that is usually enough. Go easy on nitrogen: too much encourages soft foliage and loose heads, and makes the plants more frost-sensitive. On leaner soils you can also work in some horn shavings; during the main growing phase you generally do not need to feed again.
Overwintering
Radicchio tolerates frost only down to about -5 °C, which is not enough without protection for winters in the lowlands of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Cut it back to a short stump in October and cover it with horticultural fleece, brushwood or a polytunnel. In mild areas it regrows from March; in harsh areas it is better to harvest it completely before the first hard frost.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate radicchio exclusively by sowing. Division or cuttings are not practical for this cultivated variety. You have two options:
Pre-cultivation (for early plantings): Sow early varieties from mid-March in seed pots or multi-cell trays, barely covered, at around 16 to 20 °C. The seeds germinate after 3 to 14 days. Keep the young plants warm. If the temperature drops below about 16 °C for seedlings, that can trigger a cold stimulus and the plants bolt prematurely. Plant pricked-out young plants outdoors from mid/late April, spaced 25 to 30 cm apart in the row, with 30 to 40 cm between rows.
Direct sowing (main season for autumn harvest): The most important sowing time is from mid-June to the end of July directly into the bed, about 1 to 2 cm deep. Sow thinly and later thin to 25 to 30 cm apart. For a long harvest, you can sow successionally every few weeks. The typical red-violet colouring of the heads only develops once nights turn cooler from September and the day-night temperature swings increase. That is why late sowing is decisive for the autumn crop. If sown too early in high summer, the risk of bolting is higher.
Germination: Keep the soil evenly moist and avoid waterlogging. Radicchio has a strong taproot and is hard to transplant again after pricking out, so choose the site well and move it only once.
Seed tip: Varieties such as ‘Palla Rossa’ or ‘Rosso di Chioggia’ are well suited to the home garden in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and are reliably available as open-pollinated seed. When buying, look for the label “open-pollinated” rather than “F1”. Only open-pollinated seed stays true to variety when you save it.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Radicchio yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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Where to get this plant
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