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How to Grow Swiss Chard: Planting, Care & Harvest Tips for Colorful Greens

Swiss chard

Swiss chard with its colorful stems.

Image Credit:
Nancy Kennedy/Getty Images
Botanical Name
Beta vulgaris var. cicla
Plant Type
Vegetables
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Partial Sun
Bloom Time
Summer
Fall
Cummins
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener
Almanac Guide to Herbs

Why should flowers have all the fun? With stems in ruby red, sunshine yellow, and neon pink, Swiss chard brings a whole bouquet of color and nutrition to your garden beds and your dinner plate. This cool-weather super green isn’t just easy on the eyes—it’s easy to grow, too! Swiss chard is a cheerful and dependable garden MVP. Let’s dig into how to grow your own rainbow of leafy goodness!

About Swiss Chard

Similar to beets, Swiss chard’s stems and leaves can be eaten cooked or raw. It is prolific—leave plenty of room in the garden bed! Its mild flavor adds nutrition and color to salads, pasta, pizzas, quiches, sandwiches, and more.

Swiss chard is very easy to grow, incredibly hardy, and a great choice for beginner gardeners. And it looks beautiful in the garden, with broad, thick stems available in colors ranging from pure white to golden yellow and even hot pink! 

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Typically grown as a cool-season crop because it grows quickly and easily during the cooler temperatures of spring and fall, chard is quite tolerant of hotter temperatures, too. Its growth will slow down in summer, but chard’s higher heat tolerance makes it a great salad green to grow when it gets too hot out for the others.

Chard is a superfood, high in vitamins A, C, and K. It doesn’t have the bitter taste that many other greens have, and it makes a good substitute for spinach or kale if you’re not a fan of those superfoods. 

On top of all its virtues as a garden vegetable, chard is a lovely edible ornamental plant, coming in many different colors to mix with landscaping or in containers. Why, you could even use chard in a vase or bouquet, mixed with flowers, or on its own. Why should flowers have all the fun?

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Planting

Chard will tolerate partial sun, but it grows best in full sun. It prefers a location with moderately fertile, well-draining soil and a soil pH between 6.0 and 7.0 (slightly acidic to neutral). Before planting, mix aged manure and/or compost into the soil to boost soil fertility. Scatter a general-purpose organic fertilizer on the soil one week before sowing, then rake the soil to a fine tilth.

When to Plant Swiss Chard

  • For the spring season, plant chard seeds 2 to 3 weeks before the last spring frost date.
  • For a fall harvest, plant chard seeds about 40 days before the first fall frost date. (Many varieties will tolerate a light frost.)
  • Soak seeds in water for 24 hours before planting to speed germination. 

How to Plant Swiss Chard

  • When ready to plant, apply 5-10-10 fertilizer to the area.
  • Sow seeds 1/2 to 1 inch deep, 2 to 6 inches apart, in rows 18 inches apart.
  • Continue planting seeds at 10-day intervals for a month.
  • You can also start chard off in pots for transplanting later, which has the benefit of helping to prevent slugs from eating the young seedlings. This is also useful for succession planting while you wait for space to become available in the garden. Once you’ve cleared out the previous crop, transplant the sturdy chard seedlings in the garden one foot apart, leaving 16 inches between rows.

Swiss chard growing in the garden

Growing

  • When plants are 3 to 4 inches tall, thin to 4 to 6 inches apart, or 6 to 12 inches if plants are large.
  • Use scissors to avoid disturbing nearby plant roots. You can eat the cuttings.
  • Chard usually does just fine without the use of fertilizer, but if yours seems to be staying small, consider applying a balanced fertilizer halfway through the season.
  • Water evenly and consistently to help it grow better. Water plants often during dry spells in the summer. Water regularly to promote plenty of fresh leafy growth and to stop the plants from running to seed, or ‘bolting,’ in dry weather. If they do bolt, they’ll no longer produce new leaves, so dig them up and add them to your compost pile.
  • Mulch the plants to help conserve moisture and suppress weeds. Keep your chard weeded using a hoe.
  • When plants are about 1 foot tall, cut leaves back to 3 to 5 inches to encourage new tender growth; if chard plants become overgrown, they become less flavorful. 

Check out this video to learn how to grow Swiss chard:

Harvesting

  • Begin to harvest when the plants are 6 to 8 inches tall, depending on which size leaves you desire.
  • Cut off outer leaves 1-1/2 inches above the ground with a sharp knife. Avoid damaging the plant’s center. Eat what you cut.
  • Harvest regularly, and the plants will produce continually. Use the “cut-and-come-again” harvesting technique, taking the largest, oldest leaves and leaving the young ones to continue growing.
  • In fall, position row covers over the plants to keep the harvests coming for longer.
  • To extend the harvest, lift the plant, with roots in the soil, and transfer to a container in a greenhouse. Maintain the temperature at around 50°F. Initially, the chard will appear limp, but it should rebound.

How to Store Swiss Chard

  • Rinse off Swiss chard leaves and store them in the refrigerator in ventilated plastic bags.
  • To use, draw a sharp knife along the ribs to separate the leaves.
  • You can cook the ribs like asparagus (steamed, roasted, sautéed).
  • Cook chard leaves just like spinach. Strip the leaves away from the central stems, chopping them up and steaming or wilting them in a pan. The central stems can be cooked in the same way but take a little longer. They can be served with salt and melted butter, a rich hollandaise sauce, or dipped into the yolk of a soft-boiled egg.

Pests and Problems

Chard Pests and Diseases
Pest/DiseaseTypeSymptomsControl/Prevention
AphidsInsectMisshapen/yellow leaves; sticky “honeydew” (excrement); sooty, black moldGrow companion plants; knock off with water spray; apply insecticidal soap; put banana or orange peels around plants; wipe leaves with a 1 to 2 percent solution of dish soap (no additives) and water every 2 to 3 days for 2 weeks; add native plants to invite beneficial insects
Cercospora leaf spotFungusMany small brown spots with red-purple halos on leaves that enlarge and turn gray; centers of spots eventually fall out, leaving the halosDestroy infected plants; weed; avoid overhead watering; ensure good air circulation; rotate crops
Flea beetlesInsectNumerous tiny holes in leavesUse row covers; mulch heavily; add native plants to invite beneficial insects
Leaf minersInsectMeandering blisters in leaves caused by tunneling larvaeRemove infested leaves; weed; use row covers; till soil early in season; rotate crops
Slugs/snailsMolluskIrregular holes in leaves; slimy secretion on plants/soil; seedlings “disappear”Handpick; avoid thick bark mulch; use copper plant collars; avoid overhead watering; lay boards on soil in evening, and in morning dispose of “hiding” pests in hot, soapy water; drown in deep container filled with 1/2 inch of beer, or sugar water and yeast, and sunk so that top edge is slightly above ground; apply 1-inch-wide strip of food-grade diatomaceous earth as barrier

Types

  • ‘Bright Lights’: Dark green leaves on multicolor stems; bolt-resistant but less frost-hardy.
  • ‘Fordhook Giant’: Dark green leaves, white stems; compact plants.
  • ‘Lucullus’: Green leaves, white stems; heat-tolerant.
  • ‘Peppermint’: Green leaves, pink-and-white striped stems; bolt-resistant; good for containers.
  • ‘Rainbow’: Red, pink, white, yellow, orange, and striped leaves and stems.
  • ‘Rhubarb’: Dark green leaves, deep-red stems; sow after risk of frost has passed or it may bolt.
  • ‘Ruby Red’: Green leaves, bright-red stems; sow after risk of frost has passed or it may bolt.

Wit and Wisdom

  • Swiss chard originated in—you guessed it—Mediterranean Europe! Oddly enough, chard is not native to Switzerland at all. According to legend, a Swiss botanist was responsible for determining chard’s scientific name, and the “Swiss” just stuck!
  • Embrace your leafy greens! Learn more about the health benefits of going green!

Vegetables
About The Author
Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the website companion of The Old Farmer's Almanac. She covers gardening, plants, pest control, soil composition, seasonal and moon c...
Read More from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Barbara</span> Sun, 06/13/2021 - 12:44
This is my second year of growing chard. I did not know I could harvest and it would keep growing! Entire website was very informative and interesting. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
<span>Anna</span> Sat, 04/03/2021 - 11:49
I let my swiss chard grow to about 12" tall. I remove the outside leaves, wash them & trim most of the stalk off (they can be a little tough & bitter when grown that tall). I stack the leaves on my cutting board & slice 1 -1 1/2" strips across the leaves top to bottom. I toss them in my double boiler & let them steam for 5-7 min. stirring them or turning them over every few min. to make sure all leaves are cooked. I move the pot to the sink, empty the water from the bottom pot, put the top pot (with the holes) back on the bottom pot, sit it aside & let the remaining water drain out. You can use a skillet or the bottom pot - slice or mince some garlic - I've even used just plain garlic powder (not garlic salt). Pour a thin layer of oil in your pan/pot & throw in your garlic & let it cook a few min. (Does not need to be browned) Add your steamed swiss chard, cook the chard to your liking. Add more garlic & a little salt. This makes a great side dish or can be added to cooked pasta with romano and/or parmesan cheese. If you like garlic & swiss chard, You'll definitely like this. I also use this same recipe with fresh spinach leaves -delicious!
<span>Nancy Stevenson</span> Tue, 10/27/2020 - 11:31
On a trip to the Biltmore Estate last year I enjoyed a side dish at the Stable Café. It had Swiss Chard, tomatoes, celery, and I'm not sure what else was in it but it was delicious. I wish I could find that recipe! This year I tried to grow some Swiss Chard with moderate success. Only one plant grew but it keeps abundantly producing as long as I trim off the older leaves. It does look attractive in my little side flower garden.
<span>Xioling Von Noff</span> Fri, 03/27/2020 - 21:41
We planted Swiss Chard in pots a couples of years ago, and they are still producing big delicious stalks. Otherwise, we mulched the entire yard last winter and have been greeted this spring by a massive increase in our earwig population. They keep coming and like Swiss Chard as much as I do.
<span>Kathi Valentine</span> Mon, 09/30/2019 - 13:55
It's the end of September here in So. Calif. Do I still have time to plant Chard?
<span>Cheryll</span> Fri, 05/03/2019 - 14:03
Can I pot a chard plant in the center of a pot of flowers?Sounds attractive but will it grow well I have previously mixed bell peppers with the flowers but the last few years they weren’t very productive
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 05/06/2019 - 15:25

It would certainly be worth trying out, as long as the soil is rich and stays relatively moist. Because the flowers will be taking their fair share of nutrients and water from the soil, the Swiss chard likely won't be as productive as it might be otherwise, so I would advise applying an extra dose of fertilizer as the chard starts to take off.

 <span>Lynn Barley</span> Thu, 04/11/2019 - 14:58
I live in Lexington South Carolina, so you know it’s going to be extremely hot in about another month. Does this plant thrive in full sun? I have never planned Chard before but your article intrigued me and I thought I would give it a try. Thanks!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 04/15/2019 - 13:55

Swiss chard is more heat tolerant than a number of other common greens, but its growth will slow down when temperatures rise. If you plant it now, don't expect a particularly large harvest if the heat does arrive. In fact, you might be better off waiting until late summer to plant for a fall harvest—it does best when it can mature with cooler temps. In any case, be sure to keep it well watered, especially if grown in full sun and in hotter temperatures. 

 <span>Jimmie Lindsey</span> Thu, 07/27/2017 - 00:08
I keep a raised bed between 2 coops of chickens, yearly. It is very easy to grow and last through the hot summer with daily watering as I service the flocks. I harvest it as a cut (large outside leaves ) & come again. This year my husband built a high tunnel frame for it to extend the harvest into early winter. When it is finally finished, we clean out one of the coops right into the bed, turn it in & it is ready for seed early next spring. The "Girls" love their beautiful chard!