Best time to plant silverbeet in Australia
Beta vulgaris
Also called chard, Swiss chard, silver beet, perpetual spinach, spinach beet
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.
On a shared plot: suits a plot
Finishes in a season and stays within its space, so it suits most plots.
When to sow
| Zone | Months | How well checked |
|---|---|---|
| Cool | Sep to Apr | Matches local guides |
| Temperate | Sep to May | Matches local guides |
| Subtropical | All year | Matches local guides |
| Tropical | Mar to Sep | Broadly matches local guides, with some differences |
| Arid | Mar to Oct | Matches local guides |
Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.
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.