Endive

Endive seeds are slightly larger than lettuce and germinate rapidly, partly thanks to being sown in summer warmth.

• Seeds germinate in four to six days.

Sowing time

Follow the table above, for picking from July until April. We sow from the 10th of June until early September. The last sowing is for planting under cover in October, and they crop right through until late April, when flower stems become prominent, with few new leaves.

Sowing method

Picking and cutting are easier from just one plant, with better leaf quality.

Either sow in a tray, for pricking one seedling to a module cell, or sow two seeds per cell and thin to the strongest. Cover seeds with just a little compost, not too much.

Transplant size and time

You will often be setting out plants just three weeks after sowing them. Once the first true leaf appears, growth is rapid, at least as fast as lettuce but less fast than brassicas.

Transplant method

Of all salad plants, endive grow closest to the ground and you can transplant them a little less deep than others. It’s an attribute of many plants growing through autumn and into winter, that they nestle down and snuggle into the soil. This actually makes outer leaves hard to pick, and gives an advantage to cutting in the dark months.

Spacing

As for many salad plants, 22 cm/9 in, in all directions. Or if you want large heads of scarole endive, 30 cm/12 in.

Interplant

The best time for interplanting between endives is in late autumn as new growth slows. I have had good results with dill and coriander, for example.

You will probably need to water plants in the summer months and early autumn. Mostly, however, endive plants are growing strongly at a time of year when there is likely to be sufficient moisture, through autumn. If they are growing strongly in dry conditions, you need to water regularly, as for lettuce.

How to judge readiness

From plantings at my recommended spacing, one guide to timing your first pick is to do it when all leaves are touching each other. This is about three weeks after transplanting.

How to pick

I recommend twisting off outer leaves, which are lowest to the ground and, unfortunately, often a little dirty.

Hold the stalk of each leaf to pick between finger and thumb, close to a plant’s centre. Twist it one way then back again, detaching each stalk close to the main stem. This makes it easier to pick the next time and reduces slug interest (in old stalk ends); the stalks are tasty too.

• You can harvest by cutting across the top of plants, for harvesting less frequently but more quickly. Endives tolerate cutting better than lettuce, whose life is much shortened by cutting.

When to pick and how often

You can pick every five days or so and store leaves in a bag. Wash straight after picking, when any soil or compost is easy to wash off.

Pick in the mornings for freshest quality and for that leaves that store well. Or in the afternoon, when leaves are drier, pick cleaner leaves with less dirt. If they are limp,  you can revive them in cool water.

• It always fascinates and saddens me how, through autumn, the same plants diminish in size and stature with every passing week.

This demonstrates the importance of light levels, which decline so rapidly during October and early November. By mid-November it’s rare to have worthwhile new growth outside; it’s more likely on newer plants under cover, where better growing conditions mitigate the effects of lower light levels.

Storing

Endive leaves store better than lettuce, as long as they are moist and in a bag, preferably below 10 °C/50° F.

Saving seed

My first attempt was in 2020 when I allowed just one plant to seed in the greenhouse. We had sowed it the previous autumn and picked leaves from plants through winter and spring, then left one plant to flower and grow seed. You can see it in the first part of my melon video in Lesson 29, with pretty blue flowers.

I was not sure that this would work because it was only one plant. However the plants grown from it are excellent, six months down the line. There is no sign of inbreeding, and I conclude that endive is like lettuce – you need just one plant for viable seed. The information I can glean elsewhere is vague about this.

For pests, it’s the same likely ones as for salads above, of rabbits and slugs. Deer like endive too, much more than lettuce, and I find bird netting to be an effective barrier.

There are very few problems with disease, just a little mildew on older leaves. Pick them anyway while harvesting the good leaves, and grade them into your ‘compost bucket’. Always have two containers when picking, so that plants are tidy for the next pick. You save time in the end with a tidy approach to picking, and to gardening generally.