Swiss Chard

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Aphids

Aphids

Aphididae

Curled leaves, sticky honeydew and ants on patrol — usually with something already eating them.

, Leaf miners

Leaf miners

Agromyzidae

Pale trails inside the leaf — mostly harmless, and out of reach of any spray.

, Cutworms

Cutworms

Noctuidae

A seedling lying beside its own stump in the morning, cut clean through at soil level.

.

Attract Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Ladybugs

Ladybugs

Coccinellidae

The one predator here where the adults hunt as hard as the larvae do.

, Parasitic wasps

Parasitic wasps

Braconidae, Ichneumonidae and relatives

Pinhead-sized, stingless, and lethal to aphids and caterpillars from the inside.

, Ground beetles

Ground beetles

Carabidae

Night-active ground hunters, taking slugs, cutworms and leatherjackets at soil level.

to keep them in check — plant African MarigoldGood, French MarigoldGood and Bird's-foot TrefoilGood nearby.

Growing from seed

Start Swiss Chard indoors about 4 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in cooler soil (around 10–18 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 10 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in partial sun, spaced about 30 cm apart. Expect to harvest in roughly 60 days.

Swiss Chard seed rarely stays viable beyond 4 years — track what's still worth sowing.

Companion Planting

• 
  African Marigold
  

  African MarigoldGood pair

  • ❧African Marigold attracts Hoverflies and Lacewings and more, which prey on the Aphids that attack Swiss Chard
  • ❧African Marigold suppresses pests that trouble Swiss Chard
• 
  French Marigold
  

  French MarigoldGood pair

  • ❧French Marigold attracts Hoverflies and Lacewings and more, which prey on the Aphids that attack Swiss Chard
  • ❧French Marigold suppresses pests that trouble Swiss Chard
• 
  Bird's-foot Trefoil
  

  Bird's-foot TrefoilGood pair

  • ❧Bird's-foot Trefoil attracts Ladybugs and Parasitic wasps and more, which prey on the Aphids and Leaf miners and more that attack Swiss Chard
  • ❧Bird's-foot Trefoil fixes nitrogen in the soil that Swiss Chard feeds on

How to grow Swiss Chard

1. Sow4 weeks before frost
2. Germinates10 days
3. Space30 cm apart
4. GrowPartial sun
5. Harvest~60 days

Water: Medium · Height: 60 cm · Soil: Moist, fertile, well-draining