Chicory roots?

[SD51555]

I got to wondering about chicory roots.

**If a chicory stand is left in place for multiple years, does the chicory plant put down new roots every year, or do they just keep growing the one they started with?**

I have consulted with my advisors, and we didn't know. I had one chicory stalk growing on the edge of my food plot in a pile of clay spoils. That stalk made over 8' tall/long.

 

[Telemark]

Same tap root.

 

[FarmerDan]

I don't know much about chicory from personal experience. But, I read and learn (sometimes).
I was surprised to find chicory develops a deep tap root. Before doing a little reading I thought it would have deep roots, it being a perennial but I would not have expected something 2 to 3 meters deep. Like with most plants most of the root mass - like 70%-80% is in the top 3 soil inches. Just a guess on my part. I didn't read enough to uncover anything definitive. That wasn't really the question, but I would think the root mass increases over the years meaning existing roots survive and news ones extend the mass.


https://link.springer.com/article/1... can grow,well-watered and drought conditions.
From the article at the end of the above link:

Deep root growth​

In accordance with our hypothesis, chicory demonstrated its capability to grow roots below 3 m depth and did so within 4.5 months. However, root intensity decreased markedly below 2 m in 2016 and below 2.5 m depth in 2017. The root intensity below 2 m depth at drought initiation, 2.5 m depth at tracer injection and 3.5 m depth at harvest in 2017 was very low and could be a result of roots from the 2016 crop still visible on the rhizotron surface. Studies covering a longer growing season have found extensive root growth in chicory down to 2.5 m, where equipment limitations prevented observations deeper down (Thorup-Kristensen 2006; Thorup-Kristensen and Rasmussen 2015). In the field, factors such as high soil strength (Stirzaker et al. 1996; Gao et al. 2016),

 

[FarmerDan]

And this:
Perennials handle cold weather by allowing the exposed parts of the plant to die. However, the roots survive the winter due to some unique coping mechanisms. Sugars in the roots of a perennial act as a kind of natural antifreeze by lowering the freezing point below 32 degrees.

Search Google: do roots of perennial plants freeze and die