Swiss chard seed can be sown directly into the soil from spring until summer or in an unheated greenhouse from a little earlier. If you want to grow chard microgreens in a container, soak the seeds in cold water for 24 hours before planting to help speed up germination.

Yes! Chard looks great in containers as a central, feature plant, with low-growing bedding plants around the edges. Sow in modules first then transplant when they have a few true leaves. Choose a large container filled with a good peat-free compost, such as Miracle-Gro® Peat Free Premium All Purpose Compost. Water regularly as containers can easily dry out. Can chard grow in shade? Swiss chard seeds are fairly large and easy to handle making them a good plant for growing with children.

Want to learn more about storing seeds and how long seeds will last?

If you pull them up, be very careful not to disturb the shallow roots of the adjacent young plants! Suttons strives to ensure that all its plants are delivered to you in the perfect condition for planting. While the majority of our nursery plants cope well with slight delays in intransit, sadly, the time it takes to deliver to certain locations in the UK means that we can't guarantee this for some of our smaller plug products and tender bedding and vegetable lines, which do not respond well to the extra journey time. So regretfully while we offer the majority of our live plant offering nationwide, we are unable to ship plugs, begging plants and tender vegetable plants to the following areas: HS, IV41-IV49, IV51, IV55-56, KW15-KW17, PA34, PA41-48, PA60-PA78, PA80, PH40-PH44, TR21-TR24, ZE1-ZE3. The Chard-growing season will be more constrained in northern regions and in colder zones because you must plant seeds later in the season and you must make your final harvest before the first frost of the season.

You might have to prune away any heavily infested or web-covered leaves. Then, spray plants with water in the same way you would do for aphids. Simple sautéed Swiss chard is an easy, healthy, and delicious side dish, but there are plenty of other ways to serve this green. These Swiss chard recipes are some of my favorites: The good news is, it’s a little easier to control slugs in container gardens since the area you need to patrol is usually a bit more, ahem, contained. Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chard stems and cook for about 2 minutes, or until they start to soften. Chard is not a perennial plant, but their lifespan does cover two growing seasons. Plants will freely seed themselves, meaning that you can plant them once and have many years of self-grown plants appearing in your garden. Common pests and diseases with Chard Why do the leaves of my chard plant have white-grey patches on them?

We all go crazy over spinach and kale, but when was the last time you cooked Swiss chard? This vibrant leafy green is one of my favorite vegetables to work with. It’s endlessly versatile – my go-to Swiss chard recipes range from smoky Mojo bowls to a lemony pasta – and its stems are just as edible as its dark green leaves. Because I think we could all be cooking it more often, I wanted to share a little Swiss chard 101 today. If you’ve never worked with chard before, I hope these tips and recipes will encourage you to try it. And if you’re already a Swiss chard pro, I hope a recipe here will inspire you to prepare it in a new way. There’s no limit to what Swiss chard can do! I prefer to harvest mine when they’re about two inches tall because that’s the perfect bite-size portion. Troubleshooting Tips Swiss chard like even moisture, but avoid getting the foliage wet. A drip irrigation systems works nicely. Fantasy’ splits the difference between taste and ornamentation. It has ruffled bright green leaves and also bright red petioles and veining. It is very flavourful but with a pleasingly mild taste without any ‘bite’. It is perhaps the best variety for eating raw in salads. Bolting happens when the weather gets too warm or too cold, particularly if you aren’t diligent about watering.

As with growing Chard in open ground, the pots should be placed in a sunny but sheltered location. Common Pests & ProblemsSome of the more well-known ones are Silver Beet, Leaf Beet, Seakale Beet, Beet Spinach, Perpetual Spinach, and Ruby Chard. To harvest, you can cut the leaves as they reach your preferred size and allow the plant to continue to grow new leaves. Or, you can slice everything off all at once.