Features Of Agricultural Technology And Types Of Chicory

2023 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-07-30 21:03

Chicory is a valuable medicinal and food plant

Chicory as a medicinal plant was known to the ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks. The history of its application goes back over 4000 years. The mention of chicory can be found in the writings of Pliny the Elder, Galen. The great doctor and philosopher of antiquity Avicenna dedicated his "Treatise on Chicory" to this plant.

In the East, several thousand years ago, they began to prepare a drink from roasted chopped chicory roots, which in taste and aroma resembled coffee. This drink was recognized by Europeans only in the 17th century.

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The drink from chicory roots gained particular popularity during economic crises, such as the Great Depression (USA, 1930s), Coffee Crisis (East Germany, 1976-1979). Russian peasants have long used chicory leaves and roots for food (salads, botvinias, syrups), used for medicinal purposes, but the first data on the use of chicory roots as a coffee substitute appeared in Russia only in 1800.

Chicory is a very popular culture in European countries. Of the most consumed vegetables, chicory is in second place in Belgium, in the Netherlands - in third, in France - in fourth.

Currently, the world's largest producers and exporters of chicory are: France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain; as well as the USA, China. In small quantities, chicory is cultivated in Russia (in the Yaroslavl, Novgorod and Ivanovo regions), in Belarus and Ukraine.

Plants of the genus chicory (Cichorium) belong to the Asteraceae family, or Asteraceae. The name of the chicory Cichorium in Latin means "entering the fields."

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Features of culture

Chicory is a large perennial herb up to 1.5 m tall, having a thick fleshy long taproot, straight (rounded or ribbed) hard branched rough stem, sharp-toothed lanceolate, stalk-embracing leaves and ligulate flowers in large inflorescences - baskets, located in the axils of the upper leaves and branches.

Flowers - blue, less often - blue, lilac, pink, white; responsive to changes in illumination. The diameter of the flower basket is 2-4 cm. Flowering lasts from June to October. The lower leaves are bristly, serrated, notched, pinnately-separated, collected in a basal rosette.

Chicory is propagated by seeds or parts of the rhizome.

Fruits are prismatic 4-6-sided achenes (2-3 mm long) with a very short bristly tuft (light brown or brown, oblong), have a high germination capacity.

Plants of the genus chicory are good honey plants.

Features of chicory agricultural technology

Index	Chicory
	Whitloof	Escariol	Endive
Predecessor	1) Desirable: cucumber, cabbage, onions and legumes; 2) unacceptable: lettuce, carrots, Jerusalem artichoke, parsley, tarragon, artichoke.
Plot, illumination	Light-loving crops. Well-lit areas (desirable).
Temperature regime	Cold-resistant crops. The minimum growth temperature is 8 ° C; resistant to short-term frosts up to -5 … -6 ° С; root crops - up to -20 … -30 ° С.
The soil	Fertile soils. Mechanical composition: loose, with good air and water permeability (light loamy and sandy loam). Soil pH acidity: 6.0-7.0 (slightly acidic reaction of the environment, close to neutral). Grows poorly on acidic, heavy clay soils; does not tolerate fresh manure.
Preparing the soil for planting	1. In autumn, after harvesting the predecessor, shallow the soil with a rake. 2. Add rotted manure to the soil, dig up the soil after two weeks to a depth of more than 30 cm. 3. In the spring, apply complex mineral fertilizer, ash, dig up the soil to a depth of 25-30 cm.
Boarding time	Depends on the selected variety and planting method. Carry out from the end of March to August (for seedlings - March-April; in open ground - May). Consider that it takes 3-4 months to form normal root crops.
Planting method	1) seedlings (for an earlier harvest); 2) seeds (sowing in open ground).
Seedlings	Sow seeds for seedlings in containers from late March - early April. In the phase of 2-3 true leaves, dive into peat pots. In the phase of 4-5 true leaves, plant seedlings at the age of 30-35 days in open ground. Water liberally after planting.
Seeds	Loosen the soil deeply before sowing. Sow seeds in open ground when the soil warms up to 8 … 10 ° С (from the beginning of May); then roll the soil a little. Shoots appear in 4-12 days; loosen the soil.
Planting scheme (sowing)	The seeding depth is 1-2 cm When planting seedlings, the root collar is on the soil surface. 1) in rows with row spacing of 30-40 cm, the distance between plants in a row is 20-30 cm; 2) double-line tapes: the distance between the lines is 20-30 cm, between the tapes is 40-50 cm; 3) planting in a square-nesting way according to the scheme 30 × 30, 25 × 25 cm; thickened landing 20 × 20 cm.
Care	1. Regular watering; 2. Periodic deep loosening of row spacings, always after watering and rain; 3. Weed weeding; 4. Thinning of seedlings: first - in the phase of 1-2 true leaves (distance between plants 5-10 cm); the second - in the phase of 4-5 true leaves (20-30 cm).
Watering	Regular moderate watering with water heated in the sun (does not tolerate overdrying and waterlogging of the soil). During the period of drought, during the formation of root crops and active growth of leaves, increase watering.
Top dressing	If necessary, top dressing with complex mineral fertilizer.
Harvesting and storage of crops	In October-November, before severe frosts, in dry weather. 1. Dig up roots with a garden pitchfork. 2. Do root crops? Cut 3-5 cm tops at a distance of 2-4 cm above the neck and lateral roots. 3. Before distillation, root vegetables should be stored at 0… -3 ° С in dry sand (sawdust), in a horizontal position.	Before the onset of frost, the rosettes of the plants can be dug up, planted in containers (boxes, flower pots), placed in a cool room with a temperature of 10 … -15 ° C. Leaves can be used as needed.
Features of agricultural technology	Distillation	Whitening
Varieties and hybrids	They differ in terms of planting, shape and color of leaves (leafy, root varieties). Universal, not zoned; mainly foreign selection (Belgium, Netherlands, France).

Types of chicory

In total, 12 species of chicory are known, common in Europe, North Africa and Asia (North India and North China), of which four are found in Russia. As an invasive plant, chicory grows in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, North and South America.

Species of economic interest: common chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) and lettuce chicory (Cichorium endivia L.).

Common chicory (Cichorium intybus L.). Common chicory is an unpretentious plant. It is widespread everywhere: along the sides of roads, paths, ditches, ravines, in meadows, glades, the outskirts of fields, forest edges, on talus and city wastelands, near houses, on river banks, fallow lands, in crops, in weedy places. Cultivated varieties (forms):

Common chicory (sowing) (Cichorium intybus var. Sativum L.). Grown in order to obtain raw materials (root crops) for the preparation of drinks and alcohols. Its roots contain more inulin than wild chicory roots.

Chicory Vitluf (Cichorium intybus var. Foliosum L.) (translated from the Flemish language "Witloof" - "white sheet"). Vitluf is grown as an annual forcing crop. In the first year, a large basal rosette of leaves and a taproot are formed. The grown root vegetable is used for forcing heads of cabbage with wide leaves of white, creamy white or light yellow color, which are used for food. The taste of witloof leaves is juicy, tender, crunchy with a slight bitterness.

In the second year, a straight stem with blue or white flowers forms.

There are several versions of the emergence of the witloof. According to the most common of them, the chicory witloof in 1850-1851. received the chief gardener of the Botanical Garden of Brussels Franz Brezier by forcing heads with smooth light leaves from the roots of common chicory.

Brezier identified the main necessary factors for forcing a high-quality witloof - these are absolute darkness, a certain temperature and humidity. Vitluf was first introduced to the market in Brussels in 1867, in Paris in 1879. With the passage of time, the methods of growing witloof have been improved, in modern forms the heads of cabbage have become larger and stronger.

Chicory Radikkio (Cichorium intybus var.foliosum L.) - has wide red, dark red or red-violet (less often pink) leaves with creamy white veins.

Salad chicory (Cichorium endivia L.) is a biennial plant that is cultivated as an annual (in the first year, a rosette of leaves and a root crop is formed, in the second - a flower stem and seeds).

The leaves and roots of chicory salad are used for food. There are special leaf and root varieties. After bleaching, the inner leaves of the chicory rosette are pale green, tender and less bitter in taste.

Varieties of chicory salad:

Chicory, endive (Cichorium endivia var crispum L..), Or the frieze (French for "fris e?" - Curly) - has direct branching stems up to 60 cm tall. Leaves are green and yellow-green in color, thin, oblong, curly, cut (dissected). The flowers are lilac.

Chicory escariol (Cichorium endivia var. Latifolium L.) - has a straight stem 60-80 cm high with large, wide leaves collected in a large basal rosette with a diameter of up to 40 cm. The leaf blade is slightly cut. The leaves are green or yellow-green. The flowers are blue or pink.

Escariole tastes less bitter than Frize and Witloof.

Read part 2. The use of chicory →