Chicory cultivation in three phases

Cultivation of witloof chicory: Chicory is a biennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. A biennial plant grows vegetatively the first year. Then the chicory plant forms a rosette-shaped plant and a long cylindrical taproot. In nature, this plant passes from the vegetative phase to the generative phase during the winter, on exposure to cold temperatures. This means that the chicory plant will flower in the second year. After flowering, the plant dies. For the cultivation of chicory witloof, the first growing year proceeds the same way. In autumn, however, the roots are removed from the soil and stored in cold stores. Roots are then removed from the cold store, as needed, to allow chicory heads to grow on these roots in three-week growing cycles.