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.
Chicory Mont Blanc
Chicory witloof Mont Blanc, a CMS hybrid, is extremely uniform. This is of great benefit to the cultivation of extremely uniform roots. Moreover, since this chicory witloof variety is not sensitive to sulfonylurea herbicide, this offers major benefits for weed control.
Unparalleled short pith
Mont Blanc is suitable for early forcing. Mont Blanc produces a mountain of high-quality chicory witloof in the early forcing season. The heads are pointed and tight and they have a very short pith. Mont Blanc is with approx 130-140 growing days one of the earliest varieties in the range.
Download here the full information about sulfonylurea resistance.
Key figures for Mont Blanc witloof chicory
| Forcing period | very early season | early season |
|---|---|---|
| Sowing period * | as early as possible | normal |
| Quantity of seed/ha | 270-300.000 | 290-320.000 |
| Optimum number of plants/ha | 240-250.000 | 250-260.000 |
| Growing days | 130 | 140 |
| Cold storage period (roots) | 2-6 weeks | 2 weeks - 2 months |
| Cold storage temperature (roots) | 0,0 °C. | 0.0 / -1.0 °C. |
The above figures should be interpreted as trends and depend on regional growing and operating conditions.
* The minimum 24-hour temperature for sowing is 12 °C. Avoid night frost.
Chicosem is part of the Chico-group. Chicosem supplies chicory witloof seeds to professional chicory growers around the world.
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Chicosem is part of the Chico-group. Chicosem supplies chicory witloof seeds to professional chicory growers around the world.
CONTACT DETAILS
PARTNERS
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