Sowing

Sow 1 cm deep, when the soil has warmed up to at least 10°C. The risk of bolters from the plant grows when the soil is too cold.  

Spacing

Thin out to 20-30 cm between the plants and 40-50 cm between the rows.

Harvest

Lettuce-chicory is cultivated because of the leaves and heads and can be harvested far into autumn. The root- or forced chicory yields a strong pole-root for forcing during winter. It can be dried, toasted and ground for coffee surrogate, which is very common on the continent.
Roots for forcing are harvested late. Cut off the tops a few cm above the neck of the root, trim and shorten to 15-20 cm. Let them dry a little before storing in the same way as carrots. To force-grow pack them close together in a deep box or bucket with soil, moist sawdust or peat. If the space they are in is absolutely dark there is no need to cover, but the best crop comes from covering the roots with a 20 cm thick layer of dry sawdust or peat. Keep the box in darkness at a temperature of 15-20°C. After 4-6 weeks yellow-white, crisp heads can be harvested. If lighted they turn green and bitter.

Seed

About 500 seeds/g, one portion sows at least 5 m and 7-10 g sows 100 m.
A portion contains about 300 seeds.