Leafy green
How to grow Swiss chard
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris (Cicla group)
Swiss chard does what spinach will not: one sowing crops through summer heat, into winter and again the following spring. Sow direct from mid April to July in sun or light shade, in any reasonably fertile soil, and thin to 30 cm apart. Pick the outer stems regularly and leave the centre to keep growing. It copes with dry spells and poor soil better than most leaf crops and seldom bolts in its first year unless sown too early.
- Hardiness
- Hardy, crops through a mild winter
- Position
- Sun to light shade
- Soil
- Fertile, moisture-retentive
- Ideal pH
- 6.5 to 7.0
- Water
- Moderate, more tolerant than spinach
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting Swiss chard
WhenSow Apr to Jul; harvest Jun to Apr
Starting off
Direct sow April to July, germinating in 10 to 14 days at 10 to 20 °C; each corky 'seed' is a cluster, so sow thinly and thin to the strongest. Modules at 15 °C in March, 2 seeds per cell, planted out in April give the earliest leaves; a July sowing overwinters for spring picking. Soak seed for an hour to hasten germination.
Spacing and planting
Sow 2 cm deep in drills 38 to 45 cm apart and thin to 30 cm for big, long-lived plants, or 10 cm each way for baby leaves. A 30 cm pot holds 3 plants and crops for months; 'Bright Lights' in a container looks as good as it tastes.
Varieties worth growing
- Bright Lights
- A mix of red, pink, orange, yellow and white stems; as productive as the plain forms and good enough for a flower border or a pot.
- Fordhook Giant
- Broad white stems and big, crinkled dark leaves; the heaviest cropper and among the hardiest in winter.
- Rhubarb Chard
- Crimson stems and veins. More inclined to bolt than white chard if sown early, so wait until May.
- Bright Yellow
- Clear yellow stems under green leaves, with a milder flavour than the red forms; the colour is strongest in cool weather.
- Perpetual Spinach
- A leaf beet with thin green stems and smooth leaves, used like spinach. The hardiest and least likely to bolt of the group.
Swiss chard month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Pick a few leaves from cloched plants in mild spells.
- February
Nothing to do. Clear away dead outer stems.
- March
Sow in modules under cover, two seeds per cell. Top-dress overwintered plants as they regrow.
- April
Plant out modules. Sow direct from mid month. Pick overwintered plants hard.
- May
Sow. Thin to 30 cm, using the thinnings as salad. Pull last year's plants as they flower.
- June
First pickings from spring sowings. Water in dry spells.
- July
Sow for autumn and for overwintering. Top-dress after the first heavy picking.
- August
Pick weekly, twisting off the outer stems. Remove leaves with leaf miner.
- September
Keep picking. Thin the July sowing.
- October
Pick. Clear old leaves from the base to deny slugs cover.
- November
Cover with a cloche or fleece. Pick lightly.
- December
Pick lightly in mild weather.
Feeding Swiss chard
A moderate feeder and far less demanding than spinach. A base dressing and one top-dress carry it through the first year; a spring feed restarts overwintered plants.
A moderate balanced feed; far more bolt-resistant than spinach.
Feeding plan
A week before sowing or planting
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m² raked in. With rows 40 cm apart that is about 28 g per metre of row.
After the first heavy picking, usually late June or July, once
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
50 g/m², about 20 g per metre of row, scattered round the plants and watered in. The season total of 120 g/m² is within the label limit of 150 g/m².
March, overwintered plants
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m², about 28 g per metre of row, as new leaves start. This is a new season's allowance.
At planting and after 8 weeks, pots
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
5 g per litre of compost mixed through at planting: 75 g for a 30 cm pot holding about 15 litres. Then 2 g per litre (30 g) scattered on the surface and watered in.
Signs to watch
Brown, corky patches inside the leaf stalks and blackened heart leaves
Boron short on limed, light soil
Seaweed feed or a light borax dressing
Pale, small leaves and slow regrowth after heavy picking
Nitrogen short
A balanced top-dress
Bolting in the first summer
An early sowing hit by cold
Sow after mid April
Pests, diseases and problems
Pale, then brown, papery blotches inside the leaf, with a maggot in the blister
Beet leaf miner, with generations from May to September
Pick off and bin mined leaves at each harvest; the plant replaces them quickly. Cover seedlings with fine insect mesh where attacks are heavy.
Seedlings eaten off, or ragged holes in young leaves and stems
Slugs and snails
Start plants in modules and set them out at 8 to 10 cm tall, apply slug nematodes to moist soil, and remove the old lower leaves where slugs hide.
Rows of seedlings pecked to shreds or pulled out
Sparrows, which favour beet-family seedlings
Netting or fleece over the row from sowing until the plants are 10 cm tall.
Round spots with pale centres and red-purple edges on older leaves; the centres may drop out
Fungal leaf spot (Cercospora), in warm, wet weather and on crowded plants
Keep to 30 cm spacing, remove spotted leaves when picking, and water at the base. New growth is usually clean.
Outer stems turn glassy and collapse after a hard frost
Frost damage; coloured varieties are less hardy than white ones
Cover with a cloche or two layers of fleece from November. Cut away the damaged stems, as the crown usually reshoots in March.
A tall flower stem rises from the centre in April or May of the second year
Natural flowering; chard is a biennial
Cut the stem out to gain a few more weeks of leaf, then pull the plants. By then the new season's sowing should be under way.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Pull outer stems at 20 to 30 cm long, twisting them off at the base and leaving the central 4 to 5 leaves, 8 to 12 weeks from sowing and then weekly for 6 to 9 months; cut baby leaves at 8 cm. A plant yields 1.5 to 2 kg over its life. Use within 3 days; separate the stems for cooking and freeze blanched leaves.
Rotation and companions
Rotation: beet family (Chenopodiaceae) with beetroot and spinach, 3-year gap; a long crop that can also be treated as a semi-permanent edging. Grow with brassicas and onions, which do not compete for light; beans alongside add nitrogen.
Good to knowCut-and-come-again, take outer stems and it crops for months, often through a mild winter.
Growing Swiss chard in pots
Chard is one of the most rewarding vegetables for a pot, and Bright Lights earns its place on looks alone. Plant three in a 30 cm pot (about 15 litres), or one in a 20 cm pot, in peat-free multipurpose compost. Start them in modules and plant at 8 cm tall. Water whenever the surface dries; chard wilts dramatically in a dry pot but recovers within hours of watering, though repeated wilting toughens the stems. Pick two or three outer stems from each plant every week to keep them compact. A pot planted in May crops until the first hard frosts, and longer in a porch or cold greenhouse.
Swiss chard: common questions
Does Swiss chard come back every year?
No, it is a biennial. It crops through its first summer, autumn and a mild winter, puts on a flush of new leaves in March and April, then flowers and dies. Sow again each April or May so the new plants take over as the old ones run to seed.
How do you pick Swiss chard so it keeps growing?
Take the outer stems and leave the centre. Twist or cut each stem off close to the base, removing no more than a third of the plant at once and always leaving the inner four or five leaves. Picked this way weekly, a plant crops for six to nine months.
Is Swiss chard the same as spinach?
No. Chard is a leaf form of beetroot, while true spinach is a separate species. Chard has thick, edible stems and a stronger, earthier flavour, and it is much easier to grow, because it tolerates heat and drought and seldom bolts in summer. The leaves can be cooked in the same ways.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.