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Growing chard requires care from the gardener, but does not present any particular difficulties. Leaf beet demonstrates unpretentiousness to external conditions and needs mainly regular watering.
What is this plant
Chard, or leaf beet (Mangold), is a herbaceous biennial of the Amaranth family, which is closely related to ordinary, fodder and sugar beets. It has a cylindrical root and white or reddish flesh with a hard structure and an unpleasant taste. The leaves of the chard are elongated, bubbly type, glossy and curly. The stems are strong and fleshy, burgundy, green or bright yellow, in some varieties they can be silvery.
Only stalks and leaves are edible in chard. Root crops are not eaten, and this is the main difference from ordinary beets. Chard stalks taste better than plates, slightly reminiscent of celery or rhubarb.
Leaf beet is widespread in Central and Southern Europe, has a solid history – mention of it dates back to the second millennium BC. e. In Our Country, chard has been known since the XNUMXth century.
The best varieties and types of chard
Leaf beet is represented by many varieties with early and late ripening periods. Among themselves, the varieties also differ in the color of the stems and the structure of the plates. In some species, the leaves are almost smooth, in others they are strongly curly.
Emerald
Compact chard up to 45 cm tall has light green tasty leaves. It ripens early, two months pass from germination to harvest.
From one bush of chard Emerald you can get up to 1 kg of leaves and stems
Lucullus
A variety of leaf beet ripens in 60-70 days from the moment of planting. It has not only good taste, but also high decorative effect. The leaves are yellow-green, the stems are whitish.
You can plant chard Lucullus throughout the season, including for the autumn harvest.
Scarlet
An early hybrid variety of leaf beet gives a harvest in 40 days, and reaches full ripeness in three months. It has sprawling and long vesicular plates of purple-green color and red petioles.
Scarlet chard gives up to 10 kg of crop in the greenhouse and up to 5 kg in the garden
Green
The late variety of chard matures within 85-120 days depending on the conditions. It rises up to 60 cm above the ground. The edible plates of the chard are dark green, bubbly, collected in a semi-vertical rosette.
Variety Green brings 3-8 kg of yield per meter of plantings
Composition and Properties
Photos of chard varieties and their descriptions are of interest due to the beneficial properties of the plant. Leaf beet contains many valuable substances:
- vitamins A and E;
- ascorbic acid;
- manganese and potassium;
- vitamin K;
- calcium and magnesium;
- iron;
- folic acid;
- fiber.
The nutritional value of the product is about 17 calories per 100 g.
When consumed in moderation, chard strengthens the body and improves well-being. In particular, leaf beets:
- improves digestive processes and prevents the development of constipation;
- strengthens immune resistance;
- cleanses the liver of toxins and poisons;
- eliminates heartburn and flatulence;
- protects against the development of anemia;
- strengthens blood vessels and prevents atherosclerosis;
- improves heart function;
- promotes weight loss on a diet;
- regulates blood pressure;
- improves the condition of diabetes.
Planting chard in open ground
Cold-resistant chard is designed for early greens from your own garden. You can sow the seeds of the crop directly into the ground in mid-spring. The procedure is simple but requires attention.
When to plant chard
Usually leaf beets are sown in the soil in the spring at the beginning of May. In the southern regions, landing is allowed as early as mid-April. In the Urals and Siberia, the procedure often has to be postponed until the second decade of May. It is necessary to focus on weather conditions – by the time the seeds are sown, the soil should warm up to 5 ° C or more.
Site selection and preparation of soil
Leaf beet grows well on fertile soils with an acidity index of 6 pH. Place the chard in the garden in a well-lit area with good drainage without stagnant moisture. The soil is best suited for culture after legumes, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes, potatoes. But it is not recommended to plant chard in place of spinach, and beets also react poorly to heavy clay soils.
Before sowing seeds, the site must be prepared. The soil is dug up to a depth of about 30 cm and fertilized with peat and compost, potassium chloride and superphosphate are added to the ground. If the soil is too heavy, it must be diluted with sand.
Sowing chard seeds
The procedure for planting leaf beets with seeds in open ground is carried out according to the following algorithm:
- The material is soaked in warm water for two days. The liquid is periodically changed so that it does not turn sour. It is useful to leave the seeds in a strengthening biosolution for two hours, which stimulates the active growth of the culture and increases its immunity.
- On the prepared site, shallow furrows are made, leaving 30-50 cm between rows.
- Planting material is laid out in recesses at intervals of 5 cm and sprinkled with soil on top with a layer of up to 4 cm.
The beds must be abundantly moistened without washing out the furrows, and covered with a film or lutrasil to create greenhouse conditions.
It is also allowed to sow chard before winter. The algorithm as a whole does not differ from the standard one, only the seeds are laid in the ground dry and the beds are not watered after planting. It is necessary to sow leaf beets in already frozen soil.
Chard on the site is recommended to be replanted every 3-4 years
How to grow chard seedlings from seeds
The seedling method of growing leaf beets is practiced in cold regions with short summers. The schema looks like this:
- In late March or early April, chard seeds are soaked in water for a couple of days.
- For sowing the material, a substrate is prepared, consisting of garden soil with the addition of peat, humus and sand, and it is poured into shallow boxes.
- Seeds are laid in the ground at intervals of 2-3 cm and moistened with a sprayer.
- The container is covered with a transparent film and placed in a warm place for several days.
- When seedlings appear, the seedlings are rearranged in a lighted room with a temperature of about 15 ° C.
It is recommended to thin out green sprouts of chard, leaving 5-7 cm of space between seedlings. Transfer to open ground is carried out after about a month, when the beets acquire 2-3 true leaves.
Seedlings of leaf beets can be transplanted into the garden only after the end of return frosts.
Care chard
Chard in the greenhouse or in the garden does not have complex care requirements. But the basic rules of cultivation must be observed.
Watering
Leaf beet reacts painfully to a lack of moisture – in drought, its plates and petioles become stiff and less juicy. In hot and sunny weather, chard needs additional watering.
Moisture for the plant is introduced as the soil dries. In rainy weather, watering can be neglected, otherwise the roots may rot.
Feeding
Leaf beets need to be fed, but it is necessary to use mainly organic matter – bird droppings and manure. During the growing season, fertilizers are applied at least twice – during the thinning of seedlings and after another three weeks. If one of the late-ripening varieties of chard is planted on the site, then 3-4 weeks before harvesting, you can feed the plant for the third time.
Mineral fertilizers for leaf beet are usually used only when preparing the soil before sowing. If applied during cultivation, chard leaves and petioles can accumulate nitrates.
Protection against diseases and pests
Chard has good immunity and rarely suffers from pests and fungi. But sometimes it can hit:
- cercosporosis – a fungal disease leaves gray spots with a dark border on the leaves;
Treatment of cercosporosis is carried out by spraying Bordeaux liquid
- powdery mildew – you can recognize the fungus by a white coating on the underside of the plates;
With powdery mildew, reduce watering of the chard or transplant it to a drier place.
It is recommended to process leaf beets from diseases even at the stage of sowing seeds. During cultivation, it is necessary to regularly remove plant debris from the beds, thin out the plantings and prevent waterlogging of the soil.
As for pests, the chard on the site is usually damaged by:
- beet aphid – a small dark insect attacks the beets in large colonies and sucks the juice from the leaves;
A safe and effective remedy for aphids is an infusion of onion peel
- slugs – gastropods eat chard leaves in rainy weather and leave large holes on the plates;
The collection of slugs is carried out manually, for the prevention of the beds they mulch with rough material
- wireworm – adult beetles and larvae feed on the underground parts of leaf beets and interfere with the development of culture.
The wireworm begins to harm the chard from May, it is especially active at high humidity.
For pest control, it is recommended to use folk remedies – a solution of laundry soap and wood ash, tobacco infusion. Much attention should be paid to proper agricultural technology. It is better not to spray chard with chemicals, as its leaves will become unsuitable for use in food.
How to grow chard on a windowsill
If desired, you can grow chard at home on the balcony or on the windowsill. The instructions for sowing seeds look like this:
- In wide boxes or a pot about 15 cm high, a nutrient soil mixture is laid from garden soil with the addition of organic matter and wood ash.
- Seeds are pre-soaked for a couple of days.
- Before planting, the soil is shed with hot water and grooves are made up to 2 cm deep.
- Lay out the growing material in the recesses, leaving 12 cm intervals between adjacent seeds.
- Sprinkle the grooves with soil and lightly tamp.
It is necessary to keep a box or pot with beets on a lighted windowsill at a temperature of about 20 ° C. Before germination, watering is carried out every two days. After the emergence of chard microgreens during cultivation, the frequency of moistening is reduced. You need to focus on the actual state of the soil – if it began to dry out, it’s time to carry out another watering.
Top dressing for chard in a pot is applied every two weeks. It is best to use not minerals, but organic matter – a solution of bird droppings or an infusion of wood ash. With the onset of winter, leaf beets need to be rearranged closer to the light.
It is recommended to sow chard for home cultivation in early May
Reproduction
For propagation of leaf beets in the garden or at home, seeds are used. They can be collected from an adult plant from the second year of life. Ripe boxes are cut and hung in the air under a canopy to dry.
After evaporation of excess moisture, the seeds are removed, poured into a paper bag and cleaned in a dark and dry place before sowing. It is necessary to use the material within 1-2 years.
Collection and storage
Chard leaves are usually removed 2-2,5 months after the first shoots. Waiting too long is not recommended, because old plates are less tasty and juicy than young ones. Harvesting should begin at the moment when 8-10 leaves appear on the plant.
For food purposes, choose the largest and most attractive-looking plates. It is not customary to cut them with a knife – a lot of juice flows out, it is better to twist each leaf upwards by hand. Since chard grows quickly, it can be harvested several times during the season.
Leaves should be stored in the refrigerator at 0°C. But even in such conditions, the chard remains fresh for less than a week. For long-term storage, leaf beets are washed, cut and laid out in plastic bags, and then put in the freezer. At negative temperatures, greens retain valuable properties for about six months.
Conclusion
Growing chard comes down to a few simple procedures. Leaf beets on the site need to be regularly watered and fed with organic matter. The plant easily takes root in the garden and in closed containers, gives stable yields of greenery.
