Step-by-step guide to growing Swiss chard

Chard is a type of beetroot without a root vegetable, which is used as an ordinary green. The culture cannot be called popular, it is rarely grown by our gardeners. We will find out what are the features of this leafy vegetable, how to plant it, grow it, and how to harvest a big crop.

Origin of culture

Leaf beet – chard, is a subspecies of ordinary beet. The South and Center of the European continent is considered the birthplace of culture.

Vegetable culture chard is considered one of the most ancient. Scientists suggest that it was cultivated as early as 2 thousand years BC. e. Chard beets appeared as a result of popular selection. There is a version that the vegetable was obtained by artificial selection from ordinary beets.

In Russia, culture has been planted since the 16th century. Here it has long been called “beetroot”.

Due to climate and soil changes, the plant evolved – the root crop was distributed in width, hard tissues acquired juiciness and fleshiness. Chard, in fact, is the ancestor of table beets, so these two crops have similar agricultural practices.

Description of the plant

The culture belongs to the genus Beetroot from the Amaranth family, and develops in a two-year cycle. In the first year of life, the plant forms a leaf rosette, and in the second it blooms, forming seeds.

In appearance, chard resembles ordinary beet tops. It has inedible roots, only leaves and petioles are edible.

Brief description of the plant:

  • Leaves. Glossy, elongated, bubble. They differ in the degree of curlyness – depending on the variety.
  • stems. Meaty and strong. The color of the stems depends on the variety, they are bright yellow, silver, burgundy, green.
  • Root. Elongated, cylindrical. The flesh is white or reddish. It has a hard texture and an unpleasant taste. By the end of the season, it grows to the size of a fist and acquires the same color as the petioles.

Characteristics of leaf beet:

  • The stems of chard are tastier than the leaves. They taste like rhubarb or celery.
  • More cold hardy than the table variety. Therefore, it can be sown earlier, and harvested until the frost.
  • Productivity at industrial cultivation – 70-100 t/ha.

All varieties of leaf beets are divided into two large groups:

  • Petiolate (stem). They have prominent veins. The leaves are small in size, and the petioles are very thick and juicy. They can be used instead of asparagus.
    To make the stems grow bigger and thicker, gardeners resort to pruning leaves.
  • Leafy. These varieties have lush rosettes of large fleshy leaves. Such chards have a second name – Roman cabbage. Able to replace lettuce, cabbage, spinach and other leafy vegetables in various dishes. The plant can overwinter in the soil, producing early spring crops of fresh leaves.

Advantages and disadvantages

When deciding whether to grow chard on their site, gardeners should evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of this crop:

Benefits of leaf beets:

  • ripens early;
  • looks nice;
  • good in taste;
  • unpretentious;
  • bears fruit for a long time;
  • rich in vitamins and minerals;
  • tolerates cold well;
  • does not deplete the soil;
  • is a favorable neighbor for other vegetable crops;
  • endures unfavorable environmental influences;
  • has high immunity;
  • productive;
  • contains a lot of proteins and pectin;
  • low-calorie.

The only minus of chard is the difficulty in harvesting for the winter. Frozen and pickled leaves and petioles taste and smell a little like a fresh product.

Popular varieties of chard and their features

There are many varieties of leaf (lettuce) beets, which differ from each other in the color of the stems and the roughness of the leaves.

First of all, you should pay attention to the varieties:

  • Early-fertile. Mirage (41-42 days), Ruby (34-38 days), Scarlet (35-40 days), Garnet (32-41 days).
  • Bloom resistant. These are varieties Pomegranate, Ruby, Scarlet.

Popular varieties of leaf beets:

  • Emerald. Compact plants with vertical rosettes and wide petioles. Plant height 30-45 cm. The leaves are light green. The yield of one bush is 1 kg of petioles and leaves. This is an early ripe variety with a growing season of 60 days.

  • Aly. A hybrid resistant to flowering. Early ripe, the first harvest is ready in 35-40 days, it reaches full maturity in 90 days. The rosette is sprawling, the leaves are purple-green, bubbly, up to 60 cm long. The length of the petioles is up to 25 cm. The color is red. From 1 sq. m collect 3-5 kg โ€‹โ€‹of leaves and petioles, in the greenhouse – 10 kg.
    Scarlet
  • Green. Late-ripening variety, ripening in 85-120 days. The socket is semi-vertical. Plant height – up to 60 cm. The leaves are dark green, bubbly, glossy. Petioles are green, up to 25 cm long.
    Green
  • Beauty. Hybrid variety with compact vertical rosettes. The leaves are large, dark green, the petioles are bright red. Length – 40-45 cm. The leaves are wavy, juicy and fleshy. Ripens in 60 days. 0,8 kg of greenery is collected from one plant.
    Beauty
  • Silver. The bushes are powerful, the leaves are fleshy, green. Petioles are silvery white. Leaves are curly-bubbly or smooth-wavy. Productivity can reach 6 kg per 1 sq. m.
    Silver

Growing conditions

Not only the quantity of the crop, but also its quality characteristics depend on the growing conditions. The taste of the aerial part is affected by the composition of the soil, compliance with agricultural technology, temperature, illumination and other factors.

Site Selection

Good harvests of chard can only be obtained on fertile soils. On poor and heavy clay soils, chard leaves grow rough and tasteless.

What should be the plot for growing chard:

  • Soil acidity from pH 6.
  • Good illumination.
  • Landing in lowlands where stagnant water is observed is not allowed. The culture does not tolerate waterlogging.

When choosing a site, observe the rules of crop rotation. Chard does not grow well after spinach.

Recommended predecessors:

  • carrot;
  • radish;
  • beans;
  • tomatoes;
  • cucumbers;
  • potatoes;
  • radish.

In one place, leaf beets are grown at intervals of 3-4 years.

Soil preparation

Under the chard, the soil is prepared in the same way as under the table beet. The culture needs loose, permeable fertile soils. On poor soils, leaf beet loses its juiciness, its petioles become rough and sinewy.

The soil is dug up in autumn to a depth of 30 cm, introducing the following components:

  • compost, peat, humus or other organic fertilizer – 4-5 kg โ€‹โ€‹per 1 sq. m;
  • superphosphate – 20-25 g;
  • potassium chloride – 15-20 g.

In heavy soils, dense and clayey, sand is added to loosen the structure.

Temperature and illumination

In order for the chard to give a lot of tasty leaves, it needs certain temperature conditions and compliance with the light regime.

Temperature features:

  • the optimum temperature for growth is from +16 to +25ยฐC;
  • during flowering – from +20 to +25ยฐC;
  • if the culture is provided with good watering, it is able to grow normally even at +35ยฐC;
  • seeds germinate at +6โ€ฆ.+7ยฐC;
  • young plants, being in the phase of 3-4 true leaves, are able to tolerate low temperatures down to -3ยฐC.

Chard does not require special lighting. This plant grows well both in lighted areas and in small shading.

When planting a crop in partial shade, the following points must be taken into account:

  • with a lack of sunlight, a lot of nitrates accumulate in the leaves of the chard;
  • prolonged shading leads to slower growth and smaller leaves.

Planting leaf beets

Chard can be grown in a variety of ways. We will learn how and at what time to plant leaf beets.

Planting chard

Deadlines

Chard is a cold-resistant culture that gives early greens. The first chard is harvested when other green vegetables have not yet grown.

In order to have a crop of leaf beet all the time, it is sown three times:

  • in the beginning of May;
  • in July;
  • at the end of October.

More exact sowing dates depend on the variety and climatic features of the region. The main condition for sowing seeds is warming the soil up to + 5 ยฐ C.

In the south of the country, seeds are sown 2-3 weeks earlier than in other regions. In areas with cool and short summers, seedling or greenhouse cultivation is recommended.

Spring sowing technology

Before sowing the seeds in the ground in spring, they are soaked in warm water (+40ยฐC). After 2 days, the seeds are ready for planting. Instead of water, you can use a biostimulator, for example, “Epin”, in which the seeds are kept for 2 hours. Chard is planted in a row way.

How to plant leaf beets:

  1. Make small furrows in the beds. The spacing between adjacent furrows depends on the type of chard:
    • for petiolate varieties – from 35 to 50 cm;
    • for leafy – 20-30 cm.
  2. Spread the germinated seeds along the grooves. The distance between adjacent seeds is from 2 to 5 cm.
  3. Cover the seeds with soil. Layer thickness – 3-4 cm.

For sowing 1 sq. m need 1-1,5 g of seeds.

Sowing before winter

Chard can be sown before winter. This method of cultivation is practiced in regions characterized by short winters and mild frosts.

Features of winter sowing:

  • Prepare furrows for sowing in advance.
  • Prepare a bucket of dry soil and leave it in a warm room.
  • Wait for frost. Sow seeds in frozen soil. Spread them along the grooves with an interval of 2-5 cm. The sowing scheme is similar to spring sowing.
  • Cover the seeds with prepared soil – dry and warm.
  • Seedlings appear in early spring, and if there is a threat of frost, it is recommended to cover them.

Seedbed method

The seedling method of cultivation is practiced in regions with long winters and short cool summers. The crop obtained through seedlings is harvested a month earlier than when sown in the beds.

Growing chard seedling method:

  • Sow seeds for seedlings in March or early April. Sow the seeds in a purchased substrate or in garden soil. Sow not thickly so that the seedlings do not interfere with each other. The distance between adjacent seeds is 2-3 cm.
  • Cover the crops with a transparent material and place in a warm place. Shoots will appear in 4-5 days.
  • Move the seedlings closer to the light. The optimum temperature for seedlings is from +13 to +15ยฐC.
  • Thin out seedlings once, leaving 7 cm between seedlings.
  • 30-35 days after sowing, the seedlings will have 2-3 true leaves, transplant them into open ground in the same way as when sowing into open ground – 40-50 ร— 20-30 cm.

Care instructions

Leaf beet does not require complex care, it is a hardy and unpretentious plant. The task of the gardener is to create such conditions for her so that the harvest is not only plentiful, but also with excellent taste characteristics.

Thinning

Several sprouts grow from each seed, so plantings have to be thinned out repeatedly. Chard thickening is unacceptable. Plants growing close to each other do not develop well, the risk of developing fungal diseases increases.

Features of thinning leaf beets:

  1. Several thinnings are carried out during the season.
  2. All weak shoots are subject to removal. Also remove sprouts that have risen later than others.
  3. The result of thinning should be the distance between neighboring plants:
    • in petiolate varieties – 40 cm;
    • in leaf varieties – 15 cm.

Watering

Leaf beet is a moisture-loving crop, which, with a lack of moisture, slows down growth and development.

Watering the beets

Features of watering chard:

  • Watering frequency – once every 2 days.
  • In drought, watering becomes more frequent, as a lack of water leads to wilting of the leaves.
  • The culture is especially demanding during the stage from sowing to the moment of emergence of sprouts.
  • To retain moisture, the soil is mulched.
  • When watering beets, it is important to maintain a balance – chard reacts equally negatively to drought and stagnant water.

Loosening and weeding

After watering, it is recommended to loosen the soil, simultaneously pulling out weeds. Loosen the soil with a rake, the direction of movement is across the rows. Loosening, improving aeration, prevents the development of many diseases.

To prevent the growth of weeds and slow down the loss of moisture, the soil is mulched with peat or humus.

Additional fertilizing

The culture is responsive to feeding. The bulk of the fertilizer is applied before sowing or planting seedlings.

Fertilizers are applied:

  • during growth;
  • at the stage of cutting leaves and petioles.

Chard can be fed:

  • diluted mullein (1:5);
  • herbal infusion;
  • urea (10 g per 10 l).

When growing chard, it is not recommended to apply mineral fertilizers, as nitrates actively accumulate in the leaves.

Growing chard at home

Leaf beets can be grown not only in gardens or greenhouses, but also in pots placed on a balcony or on a windowsill.

Features of growing at home:

  • The culture is planted in pots or boxes with a height of 15 cm.
  • For planting, a special substrate is used – it already has the whole set of nutrients.
  • To further enrich the soil, you can add organic matter. The addition of charcoal is also recommended.
  • Seeds are prepared for planting in the usual way, soaking for 2 days.
  • Sowing is carried out in early May.

Disembarkation order:

  • Water the soil in pots with hot water – it is necessary that the soil warms up.
  • Make furrows 2 cm deep in the soil.
  • Spread the seeds in the grooves. The interval between adjacent seeds is 12-15 cm.
  • Sprinkle with soil and compact it slightly.

Care rules:

  • The main thing in care is lighting, watering and loosening. The optimum temperature is from +16 to +22ยฐC.
  • Water plants abundantly and loosen after each watering. Use only distilled water. Until shoots appear, water the crops with warm water 1 time in 2 days.
  • Every two weeks, apply complex mineral fertilizers to the soil.
  • In winter, place pots with beets closer to the light.
  • If the chard is growing on a balcony and the temperature drops below 0ยฐC, cover the crops with foil.

The first leaves are cut in a month and a half. The yield of chard grown in pots is much lower than when grown outdoors.

Reproduction

The culture is propagated by seeds. Seed plants are formed in the second year of the plant’s life.

Chard seeds

How to prepare seeds:

  • cut off ripe testicles;
  • hang to dry under a canopy;
  • when the seeds are fully ripe, remove them from the testicles;
  • Arrange the seeds in paper bags and store in a dark and dry place.

Major diseases and pests

Swiss chard has strong immunity and usually does not cause problems, but under adverse conditions, it can be affected by diseases and pests.

The most common chard diseases:

  • Cercosporosis. This fungal disease affects the leaves – gray spots with a purple border appear on them. Treatment consists in spraying Bordeaux liquid 1% or “Topsin” 70%.
  • Powdery mildew. It affects the underside of the leaves – a white coating appears on it. Fungicides are used for treatment.
  • Blackleg. The leaves wither, the stems turn black, the roots dry. Often leads to the death of plants. Prevention helps – cleaning and disinfection of beds, compliance with the irrigation regime.

Main pests:

  • beet aphid;
  • wireworm;
  • beet flea;
  • slippery;
  • ticks and caterpillars.

They fight pests mainly with prevention – compliance with crop rotation and agricultural technology. It is not recommended to treat greens with insecticides; if pests attack plants, it is better to use biological agents.

Harvesting and storage

The succulent leaves are harvested as they mature. During the season, the leaves are cut several times.

Collection features:

  • The first leaves are cut 8-10 weeks after germination. Young leaves are tastier than old ones.
  • Harvesting begins when 8-10 leaves appear on the plant.
  • The leaves are cut regularly, choosing the largest and most beautiful.
  • Each sheet is cut off separately, twisting and pulling up. Cut off the leaves with a knife is not worth it – a lot of juice will flow out.

Storage features:

  • Leaves and petioles do not store for a long time. At optimal temperature (0ยฐC) and humidity (up to 90%), they are stored for only a few days.
  • The vegetable is stored in the refrigerator, packed in bags, or in the basement – in containers with soil.
  • Chard can be frozen. To do this, the washed leaves are cut and packaged in plastic bags.
  • Before the start of frost, the plants are dug up with the root, the foliage is cut off and dropped into the ground – in the basement or in the greenhouse.

For information on how to grow leaf beets, see the following video:

The use of chard

Swiss chard is usually consumed fresh, but it is also widely used in cooking.

Application in cooking:

  • Salads, snacks, soups are prepared, fermented alone or with cabbage.
  • Young leaves are fried and stewed, petioles are steamed. The leaves make delicious cabbage rolls.

Application in traditional medicine and cosmetology:

  • Prepare decoctions for burns, frostbite and abscesses.
  • The leaves, crushed into gruel, are applied to the eyes. The leaves contain substances that prevent cataracts.
  • The juice helps with toothache, freckles and warts.
  • They make moisturizing and nourishing facial masks and stimulate hair growth.

The recipe for making chard can be seen in the following video:

Reviews

Ekaterina T., 56 years old, housewife, Lipetsk region I have been growing leaf beets on the site for many years. I really like the taste of the leaves, I add them to salads, cook beetroots. There are practically no pests on it, for 5 years I saw aphids once, which I quickly expelled with a soapy solution. Roman Sh., 60 years old, amateur gardener, Novosibirsk region. I grow chard in a greenhouse like a regular beetroot. The vegetable is very demanding on watering, but otherwise the care is very simple. The taste of the leaves is excellent, I use them for cooking green borscht.

By growing chard, you can easily provide yourself with early vitamin greens without any extra effort. Properly caring for the culture, you can cut the leaves from June until the frost.

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Anna Evans

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