How to Grow Your Own Organic Swiss Chard from Seed

Swiss Chard Is One of My Favorite Plants to Grow in My Kitchen Garden

If you look at pictures of my garden and pretty much every single one of my clients' gardens, you'll notice a trend: Swiss chard here, Swiss chard there, Swiss chard everywhere!

Swiss chard is one of those greens that I just can't get enough of. It's a prolific plant that grows from early spring all the way until your first heavy freeze. Other than frost, there's not much that can kill it. It's basically the magical plant that looks gorgeous, is super good for you, and doesn't suffer a lot of pest or disease issues. You're starting to see why it's my favorite, right?

If you're ready to grow your own Swiss chard, you're going to get so much bang for your buck. You're basically getting three nutritious vegetables in one (I'll tell you what I mean in a bit).

Here's how to plant and grow your own gorgeous, massive Swiss chard plants in your vegetable garden.

My Favorite Types of Swiss Chard to Grow

Want to grow your own Swiss chard rainbow? There are seeds for that!

Here are some of my favorite Swiss chard seeds (not sponsored) to buy:

• Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard - This rainbow chard produces stems in jewel-toned shades of orange, yellow, red, and pink (there's also some white in there to make five). If you ask me, these plants, with their colorful veins that shoot through the leaves, are just as eye-catching as flowers in a garden.
• Bright Lights Swiss Chard - Want pastel options? Look no further. Bright lights features both pastel and bright shades of pink, gold, orange, red, and white.
• Fordhook Giant Swiss chard - The name itself promises you giant leaves. This tasty chard variety has large green leaves and white stems.

There is, of course, no way to tell what color stem you'll get by looking at the seeds, so if you want lots of different colors, you'll have to plant lots of seeds.

Where to Grow Swiss Chard

I recommend growing Swiss chard in a raised bed or large container filled with great, nutrient-rich soil. (Make sure your container has at least one good drainage hole.) Swiss chard roots only extend about 8 inches deep, but you'll have more success with a growing container at least 12 inches deep. I've even found that my chard plants seem happiest in raised beds that are 18 inches deep.

The added height not only has better drainage, it also helps to protect Swiss chard from bunnies. The rabbits in my area seem less inclined to munch on my tender leaves when they're a bit higher up.

If you're filling a container to grow Swiss chard, mix equal parts compost in with an organic potting soil. That'll give Swiss chard lots of nutrients to grow big and beautiful. You could even grow Swiss chard in 100 percent compost if you wanted.

Swiss chard needs at least 4 hours of sunlight a day, though it'll be much more productive with 6 hours.

Swiss Chard Spacing

Swiss chard plants are pretty big, much bigger than their little cousins, spinach and beets. I typically give each plant about a full square foot to itself.

Keep in mind that many Swiss chard plants can grow up to 20" tall. Their leaves will fan out, so it's best to place them where they won't block too much sunlight for other plants.

When Swiss Chard Grows Best

Swiss chard plants love cool weather, so they're best planted in the early spring as soon as the soil is workable or late summer. Established plants can usually push through the heat of summer, even though it's not optimal growing time for them, as long as they receive plenty of water (you might need to water daily during the hottest months, especially if you're growing in a container). It's a great idea to move your container to a shaded spot during hot afternoons or to cover your garden with some shade cloth to cool the soil a bit.

Once it starts getting colder, a little touch of frost will actually make your chard leaves taste sweeter. These leafy greens can survive light and moderate frosts thanks to their savoyed leaves (that's a fancy way of saying crinkled). A hard frost without protection, however, will kill them. If you live somewhere with mild winters, your Swiss chard will likely continue producing leaves all winter long.

Here's the really cool thing: Swiss chard is a biennial plant, which means it can last up to two years before going to seed. Biennials are super motivated to stay alive until it's time for them to create more of themselves for the future. This is why your Swiss chard plant will hang in there throughout harsh winters and hot summers. I've found overall that biennials like kale and Swiss chard are some of the hardiest little plants you can put in your garden.

What Do Swiss Chard Seeds Look Like?

If you've never grown Swiss chard before, or if you've always bought plant starts from your local nursery, you're in for a treat when you first see these seeds. They look and feel like something almost prehistoric. The great thing is they're pretty big for seeds, especially for leafy greens, which tend to have the most minuscule of little specks for seeds. I mean, you could fit like 10 lettuce seeds in each Swiss chard seed.

One thing to note is that seeds in the Amaranthaceae plant family, which includes Swiss chard, are often multigerm seeds. That means they're actually little clusters of several embryos, or future plants. For every one Swiss chard seed you plant, you could potentially get a couple little seedlings popping up. You'll just thin all but one when the plants are about 2" tall.

When to Start Swiss Chard Seeds Indoors

Most seed companies recommend direct sowing Swiss chard, but I've actually had good results from starting my Swiss chard seeds indoors and then transplanting the seedlings. Swiss chard seeds can be slow to germinate and take off, so starting them early gives me a jump on the season.

The time to start Swiss chard by seed is basically the middle of winter when many people are not thinking about the garden yet. Seed companies will tell you to start Swiss chard about 8 weeks before your last frost date in the spring, but I start large leafy greens like kale and Swiss chard way earlier than that. Back when I lived in Chicago (zone 5b), I would start Swiss chard as early as January 15, even though my last frost date wasn't until mid-May. That meant I had Swiss chard seedlings to plant out by the end of March. By summer, I was harvesting huge Swiss chard leaves.

I recommend starting Swiss chard seeds at least 90 days before your last frost date. Move Swiss chard seedlings out as soon as they're ready. They can handle some frost and snow; just give them some protection from heavy frosts.

You can also start seeds indoors in late summer if it's still hot outside. Start your chard babies inside and then move them out in the fall once the temps have finally dropped to the 70s.

If you don't want to start your Swiss chard seeds indoors under grow lights, you can wait and sow them directly in the garden as soon as the soil is workable.

How to Start Swiss Chard Indoors

Grab your seed starting trays, some organic seed starting mix, and LED lights. If you don't want to start an entire tray of just Swiss chard plants, you can share the tray with spinach seeds. Spinach is in the same family, so they share similar germination times (about 14 days). You don't want to use the same tray for something that's much faster to sprout.

Fill your tray with pre-moistened seed starting mix. Place one seed per cell. Swiss chard seeds, like I said, are nice and big, which makes it easy to handle one seed at a time. Once all your seeds are placed, sprinkle a layer of soil mix over them.

Make sure to label the type of seeds you're planting and the date.

Water from the bottom or use a spray bottle to keep the soil moist but not soaking until you see little sprouts appear.

Once your Swiss chard seedlings have a couple sets of leaves, you can get them ready to be moved outdoors. Wait for days when temps are between 35 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Harden your seedlings off by moving them outdoors to a nice, shaded spot for more and more time each day until they're ready to go to their new home. Water them daily after transplanting them to the garden space until they have about 10 to 15 leaves.

When to Direct Sow Swiss Chard Seeds Outdoors

Many gardeners prefer to direct sow their Swiss chard in the garden as soon as their soil is workable in the spring. Again, you don't have to wait until the threat of frost has passed. You can prevent frost damage to the leaves by using frost cloth or little garden cloches to protect your plants during freezes.

Your plants will thrive once the temperatures stay between 50 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. You can keep sowing Swiss chard seeds until temperatures rise above 85 or so. Wait until temps have dropped back below 85 in the late summer or early fall to sow or transplant more Swiss chard.

How to Plant Swiss Chard

Add a 2- to 3-inch layer of fresh compost to your garden before sowing Swiss chard seeds or planting transplants. Use a dibber to make holes in the soil that are 1/2" deep (which is not very deep). Place only one seed per planting hole, and space your seeds at least 8" apart for now.

Keep your seeds well watered while you're waiting on them to germinate.

If you're planting other leafy greens with your Swiss chard, follow my little trick of planting some garlic or chives nearby. These plants repel and confuse pests that are attracted to tender young leaves.

You'll need to thin to one plant every 12" once your plants have their first couple sets of leaves. Remove extra plants by snipping them at their base, and then bring them inside to enjoy as microgreens or baby greens.

How to Tend Growing Swiss Chard Plants

After your plants have 10 or so leaves, their roots are pretty established in the soil, so you can switch to watering every other day or every third day, depending on your climate.

Swiss chard typically doesn't need additional fertilizer beyond some extra compost pushed around the base of each plant every couple of months. This process, called hilling, ensures your growing plants have all the nutrients, especially nitrogen, they need to produce lots of leaves for you to consume.

If you want, you can add an organic fertilizer high in nitrogen like cottonseed meal about once every 4 to 6 weeks (increase frequency if you're growing Swiss chard in a container since the roots won't have as much room to reach out for nutrients when needed). I rarely add fertilizer to my leafy greens, and they produce tons and tons of leaves for me.

Prune any leaves that have holes in them or that are turning yellow. This is the best way to maintain the health of the plant.

How to Deal with Pests on Swiss Chard Plants

Swiss chard is not as susceptible to pest problems as brassicas like kale. If you find holes on the insides of your Swiss chard leaves, there's likely some little caterpillar or hover fly or another little pest munching on your leaves. Prune those damaged leaves immediately. Remove any visible pests by hand.

You'll also want to prune any leaves that are touching the soil since those leaves give pests a nice little bridge to your plants.

If your pest issue continues, you can use organic treatments like Dr. Bronner's Castile soap or some garlic barrier oil. That should be all you really need.

How to Harvest Swiss Chard

You can begin harvesting leaves as soon as they're large enough for your liking, just go easy at first so the plant can keep growing big and strong.

The best way to harvest Swiss chard is to take the older outer stems first. Cut each stem all the way down at the base. The plant will regrow from its center, not the base. You can use a clean pair of pruners or your fingers to gently twist and pull the stems (it makes such a satisfying sound).

I like to take about two leaves from each plant at a time so that the plant can easily recover and keep producing more leaves. If you want baby leaves from the center, your plants will need longer to form new leaves.

You can (and should!) harvest from established plants once a week.

Learn more about the best way to harvest and store Swiss chard leaves.

How to Enjoy All Parts of the Swiss Chard Plant

Swiss chard is basically three different vegetables rolled into one! Here are three things to harvest and how to enjoy them.

Baby Swiss Chard Greens

If you want to enjoy Swiss chard in salad, take those small leaves near the heart of the plant. They make the most succulent and sweet salad greens. You can eat them raw, either whole or chopped up. You've probably noticed baby Swiss chard leaves in spring mix from the store before. (Hey, now you don't have to buy those anymore!)

Swiss Chard Stems

Swiss chard stems make a wonderful substitute for celery. They taste like celery, only better (at least better than grocery-store celery), and even have the same crunch when you bite into them. (So now you don't have to buy celery anymore either!)

Swiss Chard Leaves

You can use large Swiss chard leaves in so many ways. You can make little veggie wraps with them, cut them up and sauté them, toss them in a stir fry, make Southern-style greens, use them in Swiss chard lasagna, or add them to soups.

Swiss Chard Health Benefits

Swiss chard is a superfood, you guys. It gets all those pretty colors from antioxidants, which I like to think of as cancer-fighting chemicals. It also has vitamins C, A, and K, including more than 100% of your daily values for A and K. Don't forget about the calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium inside those edible stems and leaves. Your entire body will thank you for that. Plus, we all need to be eating more fiber, right? Just one cup of Swiss chard leaves gives you 15% of your daily fiber needs.

Whether you like it best raw or cooked, Swiss chard is so, so good for you. And when you grow your own, you can enjoy the leaves and stems when they're at their nutritional peak—fresh off the plant.

Time to Grow Some Swiss Chard!

If you don't grow anything else with me this year, you have to grow Swiss chard, okay? (Can you tell I'm a little obsessed? Cuz I am.) I mean, you basically get three super healthy vegetables in one plant.

If you follow these simple guidelines when growing your own chard, you too will soon be heading out to your garden daily to snip some leaves from your different plants. You'll be amazed at how many beautiful harvests you can take and how much you'll look forward to eating every colorful bite.

Thanks for being here and helping to make the garden ordinary again!