GardenBiennial Leafy Green · zones 2–11 · 18 varieties
Swiss Chard
Beta vulgaris Leaf Beet Group
Amaranthaceae — the same plant family as spinach, beet, amaranth, orach and 2 more here. Relatives share pests and diseases, which is why rotation plans group by family.
Swiss Chard (Beta vulgaris Leaf Beet Group) is a biennial leafy green for USDA zones 2–11. It wants full sun and pH 6–8 soil, with about 1–2 in of water weekly. It matures in about 50–70 days from sowing. Watch for aphids and cercospora leaf spot. Below: its full sourced profile from 7 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.
Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. This calendar assumes the crop is started indoors. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.
What we will not put a number on
We do not give a feeding rate for this crop, and that is deliberate rather than a gap. The figures published by extension services are pounds of nitrogen per acre for a production field — they do not convert safely to a raised bed or a pot without knowing your soil test and your fertilizer's analysis, and guessing errs toward burning roots. It is also why every chart you find online disagrees with the next one.
We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.
Site & soil
- Hardiness zones
- 2–11
- Sun
- Full sun
- Soil pH
- 6–8
- Soil texture
- Well drained
- Frost tolerance
- Half hardy
No published figure for the temperature frost starts to hurt it, the temperature that would kill it and a heat limit. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.
The plant
- Mature height
- 1–2 ft
- Mature spread
- 8–18 in
- Spacing in row
- 6–12 in
- Between rows
- 18–24 inest
- Planting depth
- 0.25–0.5 in
- Container size
- 2 gal
- Support
- Self-supportingest
- Grown from
- Direct sow, Transplant
There is no line here for warning signs to watch for. Chard will not run to seed in its first summer, however hot it gets. Minnesota Extension says so outright: it does not flower until it has lived through a winter. That is why there is nothing to watch for here.
There is no line here for whether it grows fast or slow, because we have no figure to put there. We went looking and wrote down what we read — it is missing on purpose, not because nobody checked.
Water & feeding
- Water needs
- Moderate
- Water per week
- 1–2 in/wk
- Critical water
- Vegetativeest
- Feeding
- Heavy
Timing & fruiting
- Days to maturity
- 50–70 days from seed
- Harvest cues
- Rapid leaf growthest
There is no line here for how often to sow another batch, because we have no figure to put there. We went looking and wrote down what we read — it is missing on purpose, not because nobody checked.
Planted again for autumn
- Sow by
- early Sep typical · zone 6b
50 days to maturity from sowing, counted back from the first frost above. Not published for anywhere in particular: it is your own frost date and this crop's own figure, which is why it works wherever you are. A days-to-maturity figure is a catalog number for a good season rather than a promise, and a cold month moves it.
Edible parts per source: leaf, stem.
Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.
Different parts differ — the edible part is the leaf and stem; the notes below flag other parts or preparations.
PetsNon toxic to dogs, Non toxic to cats, Non toxic to horses
Recorded exactly as the source states it — not medical or veterinary advice. If a person or animal may have eaten a toxic part, call Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) or your vet / the ASPCA line (888-426-4435).
Open one and add it to your garden — it lights up here. The rest of the 18 are in the full list below.
| Variety | Type | Days | Color | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barese Heirloom | Green | 28 | White | |
| Bright Lights | Rainbow | 60 | Bicolor | |
| Bright Yellow | Colored | 55 | Yellow | |
| Canary Yellow | Colored | 50 | Yellow | West Coast Seeds describes this astakes the cold |
| Firebird F1 | Red | 60 | Red | |
| Five Color Silverbeet Heirloom | Rainbow | 60 | Bicolor | |
| Fordhook Giant Heirloom | White | 60 | White | |
| Intense | Red | 50 | Red | |
| Lucullus Heirloom | Green | 50 | Green | Urban Farmer describes this astakes the heat |
| Magenta Sunset | Colored | 55 | Pink | Osborne Seed Company describes this astakes the heat |
| Orange Fantasia | Colored | 55 | Orange | |
| Peppermint | Colored | 53–63 | Pink | |
| Perpetual Spinach Heirloom | Green | 50 | Green | |
| Pink Passion | Colored | 50 | Pink | |
| Rainbow | Rainbow | 60 | Bicolor | |
| Rhubarb Heirloom | Red | 60 | Red | |
| Ruby Red Heirloom | Ruby | 59 | Red | |
| Silverado | White | 60 | White | Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this astakes the cold |
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center
- NC State Extension
- University of Maryland Extension
- University of Minnesota Extension
- Utah State University Extension
We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 15 of the 19 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.
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