About
Swiss Chard is extremely colourful and can make any border colourful in the garden or allotment. Swiss Chard can come in yellow, pink, red, white and orange. Find out how to grow Swiss Chard with our tips and advice here.
Recommended varieties
There are many varieties of Swiss Chard that you can try growing at the garden or allotment. These are some of our favorites:-
- Rhubarb Chard AGM
- Bright Lights AGM
When to Sow, Plant and Harvest
Here we provide you when you should sow, plant and harvest chard in the UK.
| Sow | April to August |
| Plant | May to June |
| Harvest | All year round |
Where to grow
Swiss Chard can cope well with heat compared to spinach. The best place to grow Swiss Chard is in an open area, which has been helped with fertiliser before planting. The ground needs to be kept moist for great harvests.
How to Sow
To sow Swiss Chard you need to start the seeds off in a seed tray in the greenhouse to help them geminate fast. You can sow the seeds in Spring if you require a harvest in Summer. If you are wanting a Winter harvest though sow your seeds in Summer. These can be sown directly in the ground outside in Summer. When sowing outdoors sow them at around 50cm apart.
How to Grow
When your Swiss Chard seeds have germinated in the seed trays you can plant them outdoors at around 50cm apart.
How to Care
Swiss Chard does not need much care and attention to grow well. To look after Swiss Chard keep the area weed free and keep the soil moist when the weather is warm and the ground is dry.
If you are growing Swiss Chard through the winter you can cover the plants with cloches this will protect them from the nasty Winter weather.
How to Harvest
The best way to harvest Swiss Chard is to harvest them as you need them. When harvesting do not cut the stems to close to the plant like you do with rhubarb. Leave a bit of the stem as this will encourage it to regrow. Cut the stem around 7cm up, it will regrow a few times.
We hope you have found our tips on how to sow, grow and harvest Swiss chard.
