Endywia
Endive is an annual plant, with a short growing season. The edible part is the leaves collected in the form of a rosette. Two forms of endive are grown. One is the so-called. escariola, with oblong leaves, wide, cut out. The second form is the curly endive, also called moss. It has wavy leaves, deeply cut and strongly curly. Endive leaves have a characteristic bitter taste, caused by the presence of glycosides. Therefore, they are whitened, tying in the upper part with straw, foil strips, rubber bands etc.. Endive is characterized by high nutritional value, because it contains twice as much calcium as lettuce, phosphorus and iron, in addition, carotene and a lot of vitamin B1, B2 and PP and a small amount of vitamin E.
Endive has low climatic requirements, it tolerates cold and light frosts well. The optimal temperature for its growth is 12 ° C. It is highly sensitive to long-term drought and heat, it easily knocks out the inflorescence shoots. It grows best in not too heavy soil, with high humus content. The soil should not be soggy or acidic. Endive can be grown as an aftercrop after early vegetables. The following mineral fertilization is applied on 1 m2: 20 g of ammonium nitrate or calcium ammonium nitrate, 20 g of 18% superphosphate, 30 g of 40% potassium salt. First of all, it is good to use ammonium nitrate (10 g/m2).
Endive can be sown directly on a permanent site, to the ground, in rows separated at 30 cm (need 0,3-0,5 g nasion na 1 m2) – from mid-June to July, more often, however, plants are planted from previously prepared seedlings. For this purpose, the seeds are sown on the seedbed (2-3 g na 1 m2) from late May to mid-June. In 4-5 weeks after sowing, when plants have 4-6 leaves, we start planting seedlings in the bed. Endive is planted at a spacing of 30X40 cm. When planting, the soil around the plant should be well pressed, then water. Endives sown directly into the ground must be interrupted, leaving the plants in the distance 30 cm one from the other.
Endive bleaching is carried out on 2-3 weeks before harvest, as the plants grow up. After selecting fully grown plants (when the leaves are at their maximum size) the rosettes of their leaves are raised upwards, picking them up in a bunch. Next, as already noted, in the middle of the height, the leaves are tied with a string, foil strip or straw. This operation should be carried out in sunny weather, sunny days, when the plants are dry, because binding of wet leaves will cause them to rot. After setting the rosettes, they are lightly sprinkled with earth. Endives are cut with a knife for consumption, selecting leaves bleached – usually in September and throughout October. Plants, which were not bleached before winter, it moves with the lump of earth to the pits, of an inspectorate or basement and covered with boards and straw to protect against frost. During such storage, for whitening, endives need to be watered.
The Paris Escarole is grown from endive varieties – it is a plant with large oblong leaves, widening downwards, with a corrugated surface. The leaves are firm, thick, green, yellowish after bleaching. The period from planting seedlings to harvesting is 80 days. It hibernates well in the ground, in the coastal area. Green Big Curly – is a dispersed variety, loose cross-section. Its leaves are very large, strongly cut, with a corrugated surface, green, yellow after bleaching. It also hibernates well in the ground, in the coastal area. It is less fertile than the previous variety.