Endive · New York City, New York, United States
When to plant endive in New York City
Main outdoor window
15 Mar - 5 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
29 March
In New York City, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Aug - 30 Nov
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in New York City
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
15 Feb - 8 Mar
Six weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow for autumn
20 Jul - 10 Aug
Counting back 114 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
12 Apr - 3 May
Two weeks after your last frost.
Sow direct
15 Mar - 5 Apr
Two weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
1 Aug - 30 Nov
Endive through the year
Against the frost risk in New York City
Why these dates
Sow from two weeks after the last frost through midsummer for autumn heads. Early sowings bolt, so this is one to hold back rather than rush.
Hardy to about -6C, and blanching heads under a pot also shelters them from the first frosts.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Endive are timed from 6 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for New York City.
The median frost-free season here is 249 days, against 80 to 100 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in New York City
Other vegetables to time
Growing endive in New York City
When should I plant endive in New York City?
Aim for 15 Mar - 5 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 25 Mar - 15 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will endive be ready to harvest in New York City?
Expect to start picking around 1 Aug - 30 Nov, based on 80 to 100 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will endive tolerate?
Hardy to about -6C, and blanching heads under a pot also shelters them from the first frosts.