Endive salad: everything you need to know about planting, caring for and harvesting

The bitter summer salad is very popular. Here we show you what you should consider when planting and harvesting endive.

If you still want to enjoy a delicious salad in autumn, a late-summer endive salad is the perfect choice. The frugal lettuce plant is rich in minerals and vitamins and can be grown in your own garden with little effort. In this article you can find out exactly how this works and what you should pay attention to.

The endive (Cichorium endivia) is a plant species of the genus Chicory (Cichorium) and belongs to the daisy family (Asteraceae). she is close with

sugarloaf, radicchio and Chicory related, which is also reflected in her slightly bitter note. However, the bitter substances are in the outer leaves, which means that the heart of the endive tastes delicate and mild. In order to avoid bolting and flowering, it is important that both the temperature and the timing are right when growing endive.

Origin and properties of endive lettuce

Late summer lettuce from the chicory genus has been cultivated since ancient times. The endive originally comes from the Mediterranean region, but it can still be successfully cultivated at altitudes of up to 2000 meters. Endives are biennial plants, but they are only cultivated as a salad once a year. In the course of its growth, it does not form closed heads of lettuce, but rather a large, flat rosette with a pale yellow heart. When in bloom, the plant reaches a height of about 70 centimeters.

Endive Varieties

Basically, endives can be found in two different forms: As curly-leaved endive, too frisee called, or named as smooth leaved escarole. The smooth endive is characterized by entire, thick leaves, robustness and a good shelf life. The curly endive, on the other hand, tastes finer and is characterized by coral-like curly leaves. However, it does not store well and is less resistant to cold and moisture.

Endive escarole varieties:

• 'Escorial Yellow': Robust variety that also tolerates light frost; coarse leaves in yellow-green
• 'Escorial Green': Strong, green leaves; should be bleached; more bolt resistant than the yellow variety
• 'Breedblad Volhart Winter': Solid, heat-resistant heads with a yellow heart

Frisée varieties of curly endive:

• ‘Frisée Tres fine Maraichere’: Filigree, delicate leaves; very sensitive to frost
• 'Frisée Milady': Largely bolt-resistant and not too bitter; fine, curled leaves
• ‘Myrna Frisee’: Slotted leaves and large heads; tolerates wet and cold

Buy endive plants

Endive can be bought both as seeds and as young plants. It is important for young plants that they look strong and healthy. Before they are planted outdoors, they should also have four to six leaves. Seeds and young plants can be found in hardware stores, garden centers or on the Internet.

Notice: The young plants must not get any cold stimulus, otherwise they will not form a rosette of leaves. Instead, they grow tall and flower.

Plant endive

Under the right site conditions, endive is an undemanding plant that can be harvested three months after sowing. Due to its late sowing, it is good as a successor culture to Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes), peas (Pisum sativum), early Red cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. rubra), new potatoes(Solanum tuberosum) or cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) suitable.

The right location for endive salad

Endives like sunny locations and humus-rich soil without waterlogging. Lettuce thrives best at a pH of 6.5 to 7. Our Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil is ideal for this, for example. As a medium feeder, the endive needs moderately nutrient-rich soil. How best to prepare the soil for cultivation, you will learn later in the article.

Tip: In order to avoid crop rotation diseases, a three-year break from cultivation of other plants from the daisy family is recommended. Leek (Allium porrum var. porum), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum) and the Bean (Phaseolus spp.).

Sow endive salad

The cultivation of endive can be done in two different periods. The suitability for early or autumn cultivation depends on the variety.

sowing	planting	harvest
early cultivation	March	April	June
autumn cultivation	June July	July August	Sep-Nov

Endive is sown in pots in the greenhouse or on the windowsill. For this, the seeds are placed one centimeter deep and covered with soil. Temperatures of 16 to 20 degrees are ideal for germination, higher temperatures can inhibit germination. Direct sowing is also possible - but then you have to pay attention to the right time so that the young plants do not get a cold stimulus. It is best to start direct sowing at the end of June to the beginning of July.

How do you sow endive lettuce?

• Cultivation as early or autumn cultivation possible
• Pre-cultivation on the windowsill or in the greenhouse
• Sowing depth: 1 cm
• Germination temperature: 16 - 20 °C
• Direct sowing also possible

Plant out the endive

The early young plants can then be planted out after three to four weeks at a distance of 30 centimeters. For early planting dates, which are still in April and May, it makes sense to cover the plants with fleece or perforated foil. The row spacing should be 35 centimeters. As the growing season progresses, the endive forms dense heads that gradually close. After three months, the lettuce is ready to be harvested. Since it can already be getting colder around the time of harvest, it's worth checking the thermometer more often. The lettuce survives a few cool nights without any problems, but if it goes below freezing, it should be covered with fleece or, if possible, harvested.

How is endive lettuce planted?

• Plant young plants after 3-4 weeks
• Planting distance: 30 cm
• Row spacing: 35 cm
• Ready for harvest after 3 months
• Frost protection at temperatures around freezing point

Prevent endives from shooting

Endives are stimulated to flower by long days and low temperatures. If the young plant experiences temperatures below 17 °C, it is irreversibly stimulated, which is why the summer lettuce should not be sown too early. Day length has comparatively less impact.

In order to prevent endives from shooting and flowering, the following must be observed:

• Select bolt-resistant varieties ('Frisée Milady', 'Eros', 'Rough', 'jolie')
• meet sowing dates
• Avoid cold irritation in young plants

tip: What the Shooting of lettuce We have summarized in a special article what you can do about it and whether lettuce is still edible.

Bleaching endive salad

You can bleach the lettuce two weeks before harvest. To do this, the outer leaves of the plant are tied together, which means that the sun no longer reaches the inner leaves and the taste is correspondingly less bitter. You can achieve the same effect by putting a bucket over the lettuce. It is important to ensure that the leaves are dry before bleaching, otherwise they may rot. Many new varieties are either poorer in bitter substances or bleach themselves by shielding the heart from the sun with tight-fitting bracts. Unfortunately, the varieties often have problems with calcium deficiency.

Caring for endive: Water and fertilize properly

In order to provide the plant with sufficient nutrients, it is important to incorporate compost into the beds at an early stage. The endives do not tolerate fresh organic fertilizer. A good choice are primarily organic fertilizers like ours Plantura organic tomato fertilizer. This ensures a balanced nutrient ratio, without any unnecessary chemicals and animal raw materials such as slaughterhouse waste or animal excrement. Due to the long-term effect of the fertilizer, the endives are ideally cared for for up to three months until the end of the gardening season.

Endives need a lot of calcium. A deficiency can cause leaf edge scorch, internal scorch, wreath rot or edge necrosis. A calcium deficiency can be counteracted by applying soluble lime, primarily organic fertilizers and by promoting soil life. A deficiency occurs more often in poorly ventilated greenhouses with high humidity. Magnesium is also an important nutrient for endives. A lack of this is noticeable by yellow leaf edges, which first appear on older leaves.

Since endives are grown in summer, regular watering is important, especially in the initial growth phase. The young plants are susceptible to drought, but when watering you should make sure that you avoid waterlogging. When the leaf rosettes have formed, watering can be reduced, otherwise the leaves may begin to rot.

Grow endive

If you want to produce your own seeds, you should leave particularly beautiful lettuce plants in the garden. Like many other types of lettuce, endive is a biennial plant that begins to shoot up, i.e. grow tall, and form its flowers in the second year. This process is triggered by more than 14 hours of sunshine and exposure to cool temperatures. If you don't want to wait that long, you can sow the endive in spring. The young plants experience a cold stimulus that also causes them to shoot, which means that the plant flowers in the same year.

Make sure that your selected variety is not a so-called F1 variety. F1 strains are hybrids, which means that the strain is not stable in its characteristics and cannot pass them on to the next generation. When propagating endive, it is also important that there are no wild species of the genus near the plants Cichorium are located. This is the only way to achieve a varietal propagation.

Harvest and store endive

Depending on the cultivation period, the lettuce can be harvested either from the end of June or from the end of September. To do this, use a knife to cut off the rosettes just above the root. After that, it is best to store the salad in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. Wrapped in a cloth while wet, it can be kept there for several days.

Ingredients and use of endive salad

Endive has a tart and slightly bitter taste and is best known to us raw as a salad. Especially in combination with sweet dressings, they become a special taste experience. But there are also other uses in the kitchen, for example in smoothies, stews or cooked as a side dish. The leafy greens are particularly healthy because of their bitter substances such as intybin. Bitter substances stimulate the bile and support the liver. In addition, endives are rich in vitamins A, B and C as well as potassium, phosphorus and magnesium.

Do you have a penchant for bitter vegetables? Then you will find everything here Cultivation and care of chicory.