Planting guide

When to plant chicory

Bitter-sweet leaves and tall blue flowers; tough, cool-season and almost no fuss. In Melbourne it goes in Dec–Mar.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 9–14 wks
Spacing: 25 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means chicory can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Brisbane	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Geelong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Hobart	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Townsville	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Launceston	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Mackay	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Blue Mountains	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Bundaberg	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Mildura	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Wellington	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Christchurch	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
London	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant chicory

Sow seed 5 mm deep in rows.
Thin to 25 cm apart.
Water evenly to keep bitterness mild.
Cut leaves young, or blanch hearts under a pot.

Chicory varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Sugarloaf Classicslow-bolting · cold-hardy · 10–14 wksUpright heads of crisp, sweet-bitter leaves
Catalogna Classiccold-hardy · 9–13 wksItalian cut-and-come-again chicory
Italiko Rosso Adventurouscolourful · 9–13 wksRed-veined Italian dandelion greens
Puntarelle Adventurouscold-hardy · 13–17 wksRoman winter speciality shoots
Wiltoff Classicstorage · 16–20 wksForcing chicory for Belgian endive
Catalogna Italiko Rosso Classicheirloom · 9–14 wks
Catalogna Long Green Classicheirloom · 9–14 wks
Red Ball Classicheirloom · 9–14 wks
Red Rib Classicheirloom · 9–14 wks
Rosa Di Verona Classicheirloom · 9–14 wks
Spadona da Taglio Classic9–14 wks
Trevisio Red Classicheirloom · 9–14 wks
Treviso Red Classic9–14 wks
Variegata Di Castelfranco Classicheirloom · 9–14 wks

Where to buy seeds

Buy on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Lettuce, Carrot, Onion

Chicory by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lettuce · Spinach · Silverbeet · Kale · Rocket · Bok Choy

Not sure chicory is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now