Best time to plant silverbeet in Melbourne
Beta vulgaris
Also called chard, Swiss chard, silver beet, perpetual spinach, spinach beet
Sow silverbeet in Melbourne in Sep to Apr.
Silverbeet is a leafy green that shares a species with beetroot, grown for its leaves rather than a root. Blades are green or reddish and stalks mostly red, yellow or white; in Swiss chard types those stalks grow big and are often cooked separately. Cooks have used it for centuries.
When to sow in Melbourne
Melbourne, VIC is in the cool zone. Its months for silverbeet apply here without a frost adjustment.
Matches local guides.
Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.
Frost in Melbourne
Frost usually arrives in Melbourne around mid June and finishes by late August. In about 1 year in 10 it comes as early as late May or as late as late September, so frost-tender crops are planned around those dates.
From the average of its 2 Bureau of Meteorology stations, 1991 to 2020, counting a night at 2°C or lower as a frost. Frost hollows and hillsides can shift these dates by weeks, so ask the growers at your garden too.
On a shared plot: suits a plot
Finishes in a season and stays within its space, so it suits most plots.
Growing details
- How to start
- Sow directly or raise seedlings
- Sowing depth
- 2cm
- Plant spacing
- 20cm
- Row spacing
- 30cm
- Height
- 35cm
- Germination
- About 14 days
- Time to harvest
- 55 days from sowing
- Frost
- Semi-hardy, protect from hard frost
- Sun
- Full sun
- Life cycle
- biennial
These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.