Thursday, April 16, 2009

Chard is a Wimp

I planted two different sowings of Swiss chard. The first one was seeded inside on 3/13. The second 3/22. The first one was planted out on 4/7. The second on 4/14. One would think that the earlier one would be bigger by now. But that is not the case.

The four tiny little plants on the top (not the large one on the top right) are from the earlier sowing of chard. Yes they are there, just look closer. I said closer. Still can't see them all? Well trust me. There are four little seedlings there. They barely are starting their first true leaves. The larger ones are from the later planting. Chard is supposed to be one of those plants that can handle the cold. It might be able to handle it, but it really doesn't seem to like it much. Such wimps.

Note to self. Stick to a later sowing of chard or give them protection like I do for almost all the other plants that are out in the cold right now. Hmm maybe that is my problem. The early chard is on strike because all the other plants are getting coddled. Come on plant. Suck it up. Grow some balls leaves and act like a man hermaphrodite.

And speaking of cold, it might disappear for a couple of days. Friday may just be our first day to hit 70°F (21°C). Saturday ought to be in the low 60°Fs. Yipee. It will give us a taste of warmth before it dips into the forties again. At least no one is predicting any frost for the next week.

7 comments:

  1. My experience with Chard is similiar. One of those plants while it is mature you can't kill it though seedlings are pretty weak.

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  2. Ha!!! Classic post! Talk about wimps, we grow our chard from transplants to make sure we get ornamental colors for our container gardens. Yow! Hmmm, if you're getting gorgeous weather this weekend, I wonder if there's any hope that it will make it out of the 30s here?!

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  3. Every year I tell myself to "wait...plant when it's warmer", because it never fails the later plantings end up surpassing earlier plantings. But every year I still plant too early. That's just the nature of this beast.

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  4. Beets don't seem to like the cold either. I sowed beets twice, once in January and once in February and not one single seed germinated. Hard to believe that an entire packet of new seeds was not viable so I chalk it up to my impatience!

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  5. My chard is starting to wilt because it's getting too hot here! (probably not what you want to hear).

    I have the pushing the season problem with my tomatoes and peppers - I just can't wait to get them in the ground.

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  6. Yeah, I've decided that the whole chard liking the cold thing is a lie. The real deal is that chard won't turn into goo with frost, instead it will refuse to grow for weeks!

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  7. Cheap Vegetable Gardener, hopefully my later ones are well enough started that they take off.

    our friend Ben, I was picking out the seedling colors that I liked the best too. My personal favorites are orange and red.

    Annie's Granny, maybe some year I'll get a greenhouse. I keep telling myself I won't be so impatient then.

    Michelle, spring is such a hard time to wait. At least spinach seems to come up well in the spring. It is still growing so slowly though.

    Suzanne, weirdly enough I don't push my tomato season as much here. I usually wait until two weeks after my last frost date. I like the soil to be warmer. Tomatoes get so diseased at this house. My last house (just half an hour away) I could push tomatoes and not have problems.

    Stacy, I think that is really true. It will live through the could, but it really doesn't like it. At least it doesn't have trouble in our summers.

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