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Vegetable (Cool Season) - Spinach, Beets, Chard,
Vegetable (Warm Season) - Salad Greens
Also known as stem chard, spinach beet, leaf beet
Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla
Chenopodiaceae Family
Grown for its tasty and nutritious leaves and leafstalks (petioles),
chard is a good substitute for spinach in most recipes. Prefers cool
weather, but lasts through summer without going to seed (bolting).
Colorful leaves and petioles make it great for edible landscaping and
ornamental plantings.
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Site Characteristics
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Sunlight:
Prefers full sun early in the season, part shade in summer when it’s warm.
Soil conditions:
- requires well-drained soil
Prefers deep, loose, fertile soil, high in organic matter, with pH 6.0
to 7.0. Needs consistent moisture, especially as plants grow large.
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Plant Traits
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Lifecycle:
annual
Biennial grown as an annual.
Ease-of-care:
easy
Requires thinning, but is otherwise relatively trouble-free.
Height:
1 to 3 feet
Spread:
0.5 to 2 feet
Foliage color:
- medium green
- dark green
- red
- purple
- yellow
Depending
on variety, leaves are dark to medium green, usually with red or white
leafstalks and veins. ‘Bright Lights’ has leaf stalks that are red,
white, orange, purple, gold, or pink.
Foliage texture:
coarse
Shape:
- cushion, mound or clump
- upright
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Special Considerations
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Tolerates:
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frost - Tolerates moderate frosts, but don’t plant in very early
spring. Some varieties will bolt (go to seed) prematurely if exposed to
prolonged freezing temperatures.
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salt
Special characteristics:
- not native to North America
- Domesticated from wild species in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Special uses:
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Growing Information
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How to plant:
Propagate by
seed
Germination temperature: 40 F to 95 F
- Optimum 85 F.
Days to emergence: 5 to 7
Seed can be saved 4 years.
Maintenance and care:
Start planting about 2 to 3 weeks before last expected frost. Sow seeds
½ to 1 inch deep, 2 to 6 inches apart, in rows 18 to 24 apart. Like
beets, chard “seeds” produce more than one plant, and so will require
thinning. Thin to 6- to 12-inch spacings.If you plan to harvest whole plants, make succession plantings through late summer. Delay
planting of ‘Ruby Red’ or ‘Rhubarb’ chard until after last frost. These
varieties may go to seed (bolt) if seed is exposed to freezing
temperatures. Start seed inside for earlier crops, or if you want to arrange different colored plants of the variety ‘Bright Lights.’ Mulch plants to retain moisture and suppress weeds. You
can begin harvesting when leaves reach usable size. Remove a leaf or
two from each plant, or cut plants an inch or two above the soil for
cut-and-come-again harvest. Avoid damaging the growing point in the
center of the plant at harvest. As plants age, older leaves get tough. Cut plants back to about 3 to 5 inches tall to encourage a flush of new, tender growth.
Pests:
Aphids
Leaf miners
Diseases:
Leaf spot
Downy mildew
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Varieties
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Browse Swiss chard varieties at our Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners website.Most
varieties have either red or white stems. ‘Bright Lights’ – an
All-America selection in 1998 – features mild flavor and a rainbow of
stem colors (red, white, orange, purple, gold, pink) and bronze or
green leaves. Swiss chard or stem chard has swollen midrib and petiole. Leaf beets or spinach beets lack a swollen midrib and petiole. Some varieties recommended for New York include: Bright Lights
Fordhook Giant
Large White Ribbed
Lucullus
Rainbow
Rhubarb
Ruby Red
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