How to Plant and Grow Swiss Chard

Swiss chard is a leafy green that is easy to grow, making it an excellent choice for beginning gardeners. It's also pretty enough to add to a flower bed or mixed patio container. Unlike most leafy greens that grow only in spring and fall while temperatures stay cool, Swiss chard holds up to warm weather without going to seed, so you can harvest this cut-and-come-again crop from spring through fall.

Where to Plant Swiss Chard

Grow Swiss chard in a sunny location with fertile, slightly acid-to-neutral, well-drained soil. Sow a row in your kitchen garden for a steady supply of this fresh leafy green from spring to fall. It outlasts most other leafy greens because it doesn’t bolt when summer temperatures rise.

Its attractive deep green leaves, often sporting colorful mid-ribs, make it a good choice for a mixed border. It creates a lush foil for flowering annuals or perennials. You can harvest the outer leaves for eating, and the plant will continue to look fresh in the garden all season.

Swiss chard is an attractive addition to container plantings for a sunny patio, deck, or balcony. Combine it with colorful flowering annuals such as dwarf zinnias or marigolds for a season-long display. Its boldly textured leaves create a pleasing contrast to annuals with small or delicate flowers. Plant it with coleus and dusty miller for a container bursting with lush, colorful foliage.

How and When to Plant Swiss Chard

Swiss chard thrives in cool temperatures and can be sown directly in the garden from two to three weeks before the last expected spring frost through mid-summer. Start the seeds indoors under lights for an earlier harvest. Be sure to harden off the seedlings before you plant them in the garden.

Swiss chard grows equally well in the ground or raised beds. Before planting, work some compost and slow-release fertilizer into the top 6 inches of soil. For fertilizer amounts, follow the directions on the product label. Sow the seeds 2 to 4 inches apart, thinning them 6 to 8 inches apart when they have three to four leaves. Don’t throw away the thinnings—they’re great in salads.

Swiss Chard Care Tips

Swiss chard is an easy-to-grow vegetable that is fun for kids and beginning gardeners because it’s so reliable. It has few pest or disease problems and tolerates a wide range of temperatures and soil types, so just about anyone can grow it.

Light

Full sun for six hours or more is best for Swiss chard. It will tolerate shade for part of the day, but the more sun it gets, the better it will grow.

Soil and Water

While tolerant of a range of soil types, Swiss chard grows best in well-drained soil rich in organic matter and with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. To add nutrients and improve drainage, incorporate compost or other organic matter into the soil before planting.

An inch of water per week is a good rule of thumb for most vegetables, including Swiss chard. A drip or soaker hose is a great way to add supplemental water when rainfall is inadequate. Aim to water the plants at soil level rather than wetting the leaves, which encourages diseases. Mulching around the base of plants helps retain soil moisture.

Temperature and Humidity

Swiss chard is considered a cool-season crop. Seed germination is best between 55°F and 75°F. Most growth occurs in spring and fall, slowing during the heat of summer. Unlike spinach, it rarely bolts in hot weather, so it can be harvested through the summer months. Outdoors, Swiss chard isn’t particular about humidity as long as its soil is kept moist.

Fertilizer

If you added compost and a slow-release fertilizer before planting, you may not need to add more during the season. If you feel the plants could use a boost, water them with a liquid fertilizer such as fish emulsion.

Potting and Repotting Swiss Chard

Swiss chard thrives in containers and is attractive when combined with colorful annuals. It needs at least a 12-inch wide and deep container. A 10-gallon pot has room to grow two plants. All containers need holes to provide good drainage. Fill the container with commercial potting soil formulated for vegetables and add compost or organic matter. Plant the Swiss chard seeds about an inch deep and spaced 8-10 inches apart. Keep the soil moist, not wet, and the seeds will germinate in 10–14 days. Position the container in an area that receives full sun at least six hours daily. This biennial doesn’t require repotting.

Harvesting and Storage

Begin harvesting Swiss chard when the leaves are about 6 inches long. Harvest in the morning when the leaves are full of moisture by regularly cutting the outer leaves with a sharp knife, cutting an inch above the ground. Leave the center to continue to produce new leaves.

Swiss chard is best when used the same day you harvest it. However, leaves last in the refrigerator for about a week if stored in an unsealed plastic bag.

Pests and Problems

Swiss chard is a resilient crop that rarely suffers significant damage from pests or disease. There are a few insect pests that, from time to time, may infest Swiss chard, including aphids, flea beetles, and leaf miners. A floating row cover Is useful for preventing these pests if they’re a problem in your garden. A hard stream of water can knock off most aphids. If you see leaf miner damage—pale tunnels through the leaf tissues—remove the infested leaves and dispose of them to prevent the insect’s spread.

Slugs and snails are occasionally a problem, especially on young plants. These critters take big bites out of foliage. Pick and destroy them if you spot them or trap them in shallow pans of beer.

Plants that grow in less than full sun may be affected by powdery mildew, which causes a white powdery coating on leaves, or downy mildew, which causes irregular yellow spots. Remove infected plants and provide adequate spacing to increase air circulation. Avoid overhead watering.  

How to Propagate Swiss Chard

Soak the seeds overnight before planting to aid germination. In the garden, sow seeds about ½ to 1 inch deep and 2 to 4 inches apart, thinning them to 6–8 inches apart when they can be easily handled.

If starting your plants indoors under lights, use a high-quality seed-starting mix and sow two seeds per cell or pot four or five weeks before your last expected frost. Thin to the strongest seedling when they are 1 to 2 inches tall. Transplant to the garden—or a container—about the time of your last spring frost. Be sure the seedlings are well-hardened before planting them outdoors.

Types of Swiss Chard

Several Swiss chard varieties have colorful mid-ribs and petioles (leaf stems), ranging from pale green or white to bright yellow, orange, pink, and deep red. Leaves vary from slightly puckered to deeply crinkled.

‘Rhubard Chard’

Beta vulgaris var. ‘Rhubard Chard’ is an heirloom variety that produces crinkled, dark green leaves with deep red mid-ribs and stems that are ornamental and combine well with flowering annuals in a container. Plants grow to 2 feet tall and are ready to harvest about 60 days from seeding.

‘Fordhook Giant’

Another heirloom, Beta vulgaris var. ‘Fordhook Giant’ has dark green puckered leaves with broad white mid-ribs. It grows 24 to 28 inches and matures in 50 days.

‘Heart of Gold’

Beta vulgaris var. ‘Heart of Gold’ is a newer open-pollinated variety that is a vigorous grower with deeply puckered green leaves and wide golden-orange mid-ribs and petioles. Baby leaves can be harvested after 30 days; full-sized leaves are ready in 60 days.

‘Bright Lights’

Beta vulgaris var. ‘Bright Lights’ is an All-America Selections winner with green or bronze leaves and stems that come in a rainbow of colors including pink, orange, red, gold, and white. It‘s beautiful both in the garden (or container) and on the plate. It matures in 55 days from seeding.

Swiss Chard Companion Plants

The large, coarse-textured leaves of Swiss chard combine well with more delicately textured annuals in ornamental beds or containers. Flowers that echo the colorful stems make for a stunning display.

‘Profusion’ Zinnia

'Profusion' zinnias grow 18 inches tall and 12 inches wide. This zinnia has prolific orange, pink, white, or yellow flowers that are particularly attractive when paired with Swiss chard varieties that have brightly colored stems in similar colors.

Melampodium

Melampodium grows a foot tall and wide and bears an abundance of small, yellow daisy-like flowers. This annual is known for its constant display of blossoms, and it graces any garden with tons of golden color. Blooming nonstop from spring through frost, melampodium can be used in beds or containers as a cheerful filler.

Nasturtium

Easy-to-grow nasturtium flowers come in a range of colors, from yellow and orange to bright red. The rounded leaves create an interesting contrast with the large upright leaves of Swiss chard. Both the leaves and flowers of nasturtium are edible, so you can use both parts of the plant in the kitchen.

Garden Plans for Swiss Chard

Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Plan

This raised-bed vegetable garden plan includes Swiss chard for harvesting from spring through fall. Planning a vegetable garden and successfully harvesting your own produce is easy with this three-season plan for a raised bed. 

Large-Scale Produce Garden Plan

For those with a large space for their vegetable garden, this large-scale plan includes both vegetables and herbs. It has a little of everything: leafy greens, root veggies, herbs, and tasty pods. Several plants in this plan, such as Swiss chard, broccoli, peas, cabbage, carrots, and lettuce, are frost-tolerant vegetables that can withstand cooler temperatures.