Crop lessons · Leafy greens
Growing Swiss chard in Florida
Beta vulgaris · Chenopodiaceae (beet family)
Swiss chard is a beet bred for leaves instead of roots, and it takes heat better than spinach or lettuce, so Florida gardeners can pick it through most of the year. Colorful varieties double as ornamentals. Its weak spot here is root-knot nematodes: slow-growing plants often have damaged roots.2
Planting1, 2
| How to start | direct seed or transplant |
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| Seed depth (inches) | 1/4 to 1/2 |
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| Spacing in the row (inches) | 6 to 12 |
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| Between rows (inches) | 18 |
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| Days to harvest | 45 to 60 (SP 103 table); Gardening Solutions says 40 to 60 |
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The Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide gives September to March in North Florida, September to May in Central Florida and September to March in South Florida; Gardening Solutions says September to May for both North and Central Florida. Seed can go in during fall and again in late winter or early spring. Chard transplants easily. It can also be grown along the edges of other plantings or in containers.
Varieties UF/IFAS lists for Florida1, 2
- Bright Lights
- Bright Yellow
- Fordhook Giant
- Lucullus
- Red Ruby
Growing1, 2
| Sun | At least six hours of direct sun |
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| Fertilizer | The vegetable guide's general advice for leafy vegetables applies: they benefit from side dressings of a nitrogen fertilizer during the season. |
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One of the best greens for warm weather in Florida. Apart from nematodes, chard has very few insect or disease problems, even ones common in its relatives.
Pests and diseases in Florida1, 2
- Root-knot nematodes: Chard is very susceptible. If plants grow slowly, check the roots; in heavily infested ground, grow chard in a planter or bucket.
Harvest1, 2
Pick outer leaves a few at a time once they are about 8 to 10 inches long, while still young and tender; the plant keeps producing from the center. Leaves and stems are both edible, and the thick midribs can be cooked separately like celery or asparagus.
In an aquaponics system3, 4
well suited
The FAO manual gives Swiss chard its own entry (pp. 180-181): it grows well in media beds, NFT pipes and deep water culture; it is a moderate nitrate feeder needing less potassium and phosphorus than fruiting crops; target pH is 6 to 7.5; best temperatures are 16 to 24 C (growth stops below 5 C), with partial shade or shade net above 26 C; growth time is 25 to 35 days; it tolerates moderate salinity. Each seed gives several seedlings, so thin them, and harvest larger leaves continuously without damaging the growing point. FAO prints the spacing as '30-30 cm' (15 to 20 plants per square metre). SRAC 454 lists Swiss chard among crops suited to aquaponic systems.
What this lesson doesn't cover yet
- No UF/IFAS soil pH or watering guidance specific to Swiss chard in the garden was found.
- The FAO plant spacing is printed as '30-30 cm', which looks like a typo; it is reported as printed with the plants-per-square-metre figure.
Your county extension office and its Master Gardener volunteers can fill these in for your garden.