Growing Escarole (Endive): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Escarole and endive are frilly-to-broad-leaved chicory relatives that head up right in the garden and are eaten as a slightly bitter salad green, distinct from the Belgian endive already covered on this site, which is dug and forced in total darkness instead.
A genuine cool-weather crop
Escarole is hardy and can be planted as early as the soil can be worked, growing best at 60-65°F. The seed can enter thermal dormancy above 77°F, so hot-weather sowings need careful variety selection or should be avoided. Optimum germination happens at 60-68°F soil temperature.
Spacing helps it blanch itself
Transplanting is recommended, sown 3 to 4 weeks before planting out with the seed barely covered in fine vermiculite. Direct-seeding also works, a quarter to a half inch deep, though it adds 14 to 21 days to maturity compared to transplanting. Space plants closely, 8 to 10 inches apart; the tight spacing helps shade the inner leaves and encourages the plant’s natural self-blanching habit. Succession sow every 3 weeks for a continuous supply.
Force a whiter blanch if wanted
The varieties sold here are self-blanching as they mature, but for a more thorough white or cream blanch, rest a 4-to-6-inch cardboard disk or plate over the center of the plant about 3 days before harvest to exclude light. Harvest whole heads with a knife just above the root attachment, then cool quickly in cold water.
Escarole has no recorded companions or antagonists in our data. See the full companion guide for escarole for how it’s tracked. At 2 plants per square foot, it’s a reliable cool-season salad green for the Garden Designer, planted in succession through spring and fall.
Source: Chicory: Endive & Escarole: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Escarole (Endive) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Escarole (Endive) tolerates either.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Escarole (Endive) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 2 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 0.5-1 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- 'Benefine' endive: Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this as producing fancy blanched leaves suited to frisée salad mixes, one of their standard endive offerings. (source)
- 'Eros' escarole (best for: early harvest): Johnny's Selected Seeds lists this as its earliest escarole, with dark green leaves on a compact plant, the one to grow if a short season is the main constraint. (source)
- 'Eliance' escarole (best for: heat tolerance): Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this as upright and slow to bolt, a better choice than Eros for a longer or warmer harvest window. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy escarole seeds
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing escarole (endive)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Escarole (Endive): A frilly-to-broad-leaved chicory relative that heads up in the garden and is eaten as a slightly bitter salad green, distinct from the forced Belgian endive already covered here.
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