Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - Bright Lights Swiss Chard

RayR · February 23, 2011

You can plant the seeds early when the ground can be worked like Burpee says but they will take a long time to germinate in cool soil like Burpee says (10-21 days). Mature Swiss Chard plants can handle light frosts, I'm not so sure about seedlings if they get hit with a hard frost in early spring.
I've never planted them too early because they don't grow very fast until the weather and soil warms up anyway. Last year I pre-sprouted the seeds indoors in May, which only took 4 days and then planted the sprouts directly in the garden.

February 23, 2011	#4
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,466	You can plant the seeds early when the ground can be worked like Burpee says but they will take a long time to germinate in cool soil like Burpee says (10-21 days). Mature Swiss Chard plants can handle light frosts, I'm not so sure about seedlings if they get hit with a hard frost in early spring. I've never planted them too early because they don't grow very fast until the weather and soil warms up anyway. Last year I pre-sprouted the seeds indoors in May, which only took 4 days and then planted the sprouts directly in the garden.