Escarole is a broad-leaved chicory grown as a leafy green, the braising and soup green of Italian cooking and the base of escarole and bean soup. The outer leaves are slightly bitter and the blanched inner heart is milder and crisp. It is more cold-tolerant and heat-resistant than most lettuce, which makes it useful for stretching the salad and cooking-green season at both ends.
It grows best in cool weather and bolts in summer heat, so it is a spring or fall crop. Sow indoors six weeks before last frost or directly a few weeks before it, and again in mid to late summer for the fall harvest, which usually gives the best heads because they mature as the weather cools. Set plants 8 to 12 inches apart in rich, moist soil and keep them watered; drought makes them bitter. Tie the outer leaves over the centre about two weeks before harvest to blanch and sweeten the heart.
Fall escarole takes light frost and holds in the ground into early winter under a cover. Cut the whole head at the base. Slugs are the main pest, and rabbits like the young plants. It is the same species as curly endive (frisée) and a different one from the forced Belgian endive.
Downy mildew
Yellowing on top of leaves with grey-purple fuzz underneath. Spreads rapidly in humid conditions.
Remove affected leaves. Improve air circulation. Avoid overhead watering. Copper spray as preventive.
Lettuce Drop (Sclerotinia)
Lower leaves wilt and collapse onto the soil; a white, cottony mold forms at the crown and base, often with small black resting bodies. Plants rot at the base and die.
Remove and destroy infected plants and surrounding soil debris. Avoid overwatering and improve drainage and airflow. Rotate away from lettuce and other susceptible crops for 2–3 years. Do not compost infected material.
Bacterial Soft Rot
Rhizomes turn mushy and foul-smelling; foliage yellows and pulls away easily at the base. Often follows borer damage or overly wet soil.
Cut away all soft tissue back to firm rhizome, let it dry, and dust the cut with sulfur. Improve drainage and avoid burying rhizomes. Destroy badly infected plants.
Aster Yellows
Deformed, greenish flowers, stunted growth, and yellowed foliage. Flower centers may produce tufts of leafy growth instead of normal petals.
No cure. Remove and destroy infected plants immediately to stop spread. Control leafhoppers, which transmit the disease, and remove nearby weed hosts.
Aphids
Aphididae →Clusters of small soft insects on new growth and flower buds.
Knock off with a strong jet of water. Ladybirds and lacewings are natural predators. Insecticidal soap as last resort.
Grey Field Slug
Deroceras reticulatum →Large irregular holes chewed in leaves, with slime trails on foliage and soil.
Hand-pick at night, set beer traps, or apply iron phosphate bait. Remove debris and mulch where they hide.