Vegetable / Cool season
Swiss Chard
Also called chard, silverbeet
The green that keeps cutting long after spinach quits
Plant out byMay 18zone 6
- Family
- Amaranth (Amaranthaceae)
- Sun
- Part sun (4+ h)
- Difficulty
- Very easy
- Days to harvest
- 50-60 days
- Spacing
- 9 in apart, rows 18 in
- Pot size
- 5 gal pot (great in pots)
- Frost
- Half-hardy
- Start
- Direct sow
- Water
When to plant
Showing .
Averages for a typical garden in the region. Your local frost dates may differ by 2-3 weeks, check a local source.Too late this year (try fall)
In zone 6, sow or plant outdoors Mar 30 to May 18; sow again for fall Aug 11 to Sep 8. Average last frost Apr 20, first fall frost Oct 20.
Units
Swiss chard is the plant I point to when a neighbor says nothing grows for them. It handles a light frost, keeps going through summer heat if you water it, and does not bolt at the first long day the way spinach does. One planting can feed you from late spring well into fall.
There is a catch at the start. Each chard seed is a small cluster that sends up several sprouts, so a row comes up crowded. Thin to about 6 inches for baby leaves or 12 inches for full plants, or they stay spindly. Leaf miners are the other common trouble. They leave pale tan blotches inside the leaf, so pinch off marked leaves and throw them out before the larvae finish and move on.
Sow outdoors 2 to 3 weeks before your last frost, or about 40 days before the first fall frost for a late crop. Most varieties are ready in 50 to 60 days, though you can start cutting once plants reach 6 to 8 inches tall. Take the outer stalks and leave the center growing. On a balcony, a pot at least 12 inches deep holds one plant nicely, and a compact variety suits it best. Our kids pick the red stems out of salads, so at our house those go in the pan with garlic.
Things to consider
- Chard bolts less readily than spinach, but a long dry spell can still push it to flower. Water deeply through hot weeks, and add mulch so the soil stays cool and damp between waterings.
- It shares pests with beets and spinach. If leaf miners showed up last year, keep the three crops apart this time. Put row cover over young chard as soon as it comes up.
- Above about 80 degrees F, growth slows and the leaves get tougher. A little afternoon shade helps in hot regions, and a fresh sowing in late summer gives you tender leaves again for fall.
Good neighbours
Pests to watch for
Leaf minersAphidsFlea beetlesSlugs
Questions about growing swiss chard
Can you eat the chard stems?
Yes. The stems are crunchy and mild, a bit like celery. Most cooks chop them and start them in the pan a few minutes before the leaves, since they take longer to soften. Thick stems from big outer leaves can also be pickled, which is a good use for a glut.
Will chard come back next year?
Chard is a biennial. In mild areas it can survive winter and then send up a flower stalk the next spring, which ends the leaf harvest. Most growers treat it as an annual and sow fresh seed each year, since first-year leaves are the most tender. In colder zones, a hard freeze usually ends the plant before spring anyway.
What is chewing holes in my chard?
Small round holes usually point to flea beetles, while ragged holes with slime trails mean slugs. Row cover keeps flea beetles off young plants. For slugs, pick them off at dusk or set out a shallow trap. Older plants usually outgrow light damage, so a few holes are not a reason to pull them. Cut the worst leaves and let new ones replace them.
Save this crop
Pin it to a garden board so it is there when planting time comes round.
Similar crops
Sources
General guidance for home gardens. Frost dates are averages for a zone or region; check a local source (in the US your county extension office) for local timing.