Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights' Seeds

Overview

Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights' is a striking looking plant with stems that vary in colour from red, pink, white, violet and golden yellow.

It looks fantastic in the garden or containers and on your dinner plate. I saw it at RHS Wisley where they had planted up a raised brick wall around their coffee shop with rainbow chard. It looked stunning and very appropriate.

It is a close relation to the beetroot family but is grown for its leaves rather than beetroot which is grown for its edible roots. The colourful leaves & stems can be picked whilst young and used raw in salads or left to grow on and used in stir-fries or sautéed in butter (and it keeps it's colour when cooked!).

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Seed qty (approx)	50
Sowing months	March, April, May, June, July, August
Site conditions	Any, but does best if rich in organic matter.
How to sow	Either indoors in modules/small pots with 1-2 seeds per unit and remove the weaker seedlings. Transplant out when large enough in spring spacing 15-25cm apart. Or direct sow thinly once the soil has warmed up in April-July into drills 2.5cm deep by 30cm.
Care	They must be kept watered in summer to prevent bolting, but if some do start to bolt just cut down the middle stem and give them a good water. Keep picking leaves to encourage new ones, and during winter take off old ones before they begin to rot & affect other leaves. Chard is not hardy but is tough enough to survive most winters, just cut off any mushy leaves and it will begin to re-grow when the weather warms up.
Harvest	10 weeks after sowing, so March ones will be ready late May onwards & August sowings will be October onwards. It is a biennial so will last 2 seasons.
Information	N/A

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