Last edited on November 02, 2026. View history
Scarola
A variety of endive
How to sow scarola: Direct seed indoors, transplant outside after hardening off seedlings
Sun requirement for scarola: Plant in Full Sun
An old Italian endive that has been in New Zealand for many years, with a flat shape and a quartered heart like many old roses. Tender lime green leaves that are lighter in the heart, with a very mild, delicious taste. Beautifully ornamental in the garden and sits well over winter. Sow in trays in autumn, prick out at 3 cm and transplant 3 to 4 weeks later at 25 cm diagonal spacing.
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Scarola facts
Lifespan
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For scarola, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 70 days at its best temperature, about 980 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your scarola will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
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Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Cichorium endivia L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Asterales Compositae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -5 °C |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual, biennial |
| Habit | acaulescent (or rosette plants) |
| Optimal soil depth | shallow (20-50 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
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