THE ENDIVE GARDENER’S GUIDE TO GROWING A SUPERB CROP

This plant should be more widely grown. Endive and escarole are cool-season biennials grown as annuals. Both are salad greens similar to lettuce but stronger flavored. Endive is a delicious leafy green that can be found in salads, soups, and even stir-fries or steam like spinach.

It is also easy to grow and requires minimal space and effort. This guide will give you all the tips and tricks you need to produce the most succulent endives from your own garden.

How to Grow Endive

Planting can be done either by direct seeding or transplanting seedlings into prepared beds or containers filled with potting mix – just make sure they are spaced at least 8 inches apart.

Endive cultivation

Cultivate as for lettuce, the way to grow endive (and escarole) is very similar to those for lettuce. As with all greens, continuous, rapid growth is the key to producing healthy plants. Grow endive and escarole in full sun. These plants prefer well-worked, well-drained soil that is moisture retention and a good crop requires garden soil with good drainage and that has been well worked. Prepare the gardening bed with compost and well-rotted manure, kept close to the surface (endive has shallow roots). Dry soil can cause ‘bolting’ (running to seed), so keep the soil moist.

There are two types of endive: the upright Batavian or escarole with large broad leaves; and the curly or fringed frisee with delicately serrated leaves used for summer cropping, broad-leaved types are robust and are useful for winter cropping.

The outer leaves can be cooked as greens. The Batavian variety takes the place of lettuce for winter salad; it has a crisp, white heart of lettuce-like leaves of delightful flavor. In late autumn bleach the leaves by covering the plant with an inverted flower-pot.

Endive must be grown quickly and must not sustain any check, otherwise the leaves are prone to developing a bitter flavor.

Preparing Your Soil

To ensure a successful crop, you must begin preparing your soil in early spring, about 6 weeks before the last frost of the season. You should also pay attention to your local climate as different varieties of endive prefer different climates. If possible, choose an area with full sun exposure (6 or more hours) as this will help promote healthier plants.

Once you have selected your planting site, it’s time to prepare your soil. Endives prefer well-draining soils that are high in organic matter such as compost or peat moss. Additionally, before planting it is important to add fertilizer containing phosphorus and potassium since these nutrients are essential for optimum growth. Finally, make sure that you keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy throughout the growing season.

Growing endive from seed

When it comes to planting your endive seeds, timing is everything.

When soil temperatures rise to 60°F (or between 15°C and 25°C) plant from seed directly into the prepared beds space plants: 8 inches apart. Higher temperatures encourage bitterness, though curled types are heat tolerant.

Water thoroughly before the onset of dry weather, mulch and keep weed free. Liquid feed fortnightly in summer with a general fertilizer.

When good heads have developed the leaves of each plant should be tied close together, so that all the inner ones, comprising the heart, will become blanched and tender. Other methods of blanching are to cover with boards or with hay, with a flower pot with the hole stopped, or to plant in the first place in a trench and earth up.

Blanching is completed in from ten to twelve days, according to conditions, and when finished, the plants must be used at once or they are liable to decay.

Whilst growing, light applications of liquid cow or stable manure may be applied to the plants every week or ten days. If the ground has been properly prepared in the first place, however, this will most likely be unnecessary.

Harvest time is in 10-11 weeks from sowing. Sever the head with a sharp knife when the leaves are creamy white or harvest ‘cut and come again’ leaves with scissors after about5 weeks – one or two cuts are possible before they run to seed. 

Endive Companion plants: beans, brassicas, carrots, cucumbers, chervil, sage.

Planting & Harvesting

Pick for salad or for steaming as ‘greens’; any time after the leaves are a length of 4 to 5 high before cutting them at their base with scissors or garden shears – this will allow them to regrow for multiple harvests throughout the season as these early leaves can be cut and more allowed to grow. Endive matures more slowly than Lettuce, and takes about eight or nine weeks to head.

Growing endive can be an enjoyable experience for any gardener – beginner or experienced alike! With proper care and attention, you can easily produce a robust crop of succulent leaves throughout the growing season. With this guide in hand, you now have all the tools necessary to get started on your very own endive patch.