Chicory Early Season

Chicory varieties for the early season

The chicory witloof varieties and the red chicory variety Céralie for use in the early season are shown below. Darling and Bingo are the standard chicory varieties in this segment. Jackpot and Helios are the newest developments and Céralie is currently the only red chicory variety in the list below. These varieties need a growing period of 130-150 days in the field and are intended for processing soon after the roots have been harvested. However, these varieties still need a few weeks of post-ripening after harvesting, which takes place during the cold storage of the chicory root. During the forcing phase, these varieties need a sufficiently high temperature (18-20°C) so that they can form a firm head. The forcing temperature for the red chicory variety Ceralie is slightly lower than for the chicory varieties in the same period. By varying the sowing date and therefore the harvest date of the roots, these early season varieties can cover approximately the first 3-4 months of the forcing season.