If you ’re looking to tot a flare-up of colouration to your veggie garden , Bright Lights swiss chard is a neat choice . This middle - catching variety produces vibrant red , pink , orange , yellowish , and white stems with sheeny dark-green leave-taking . In this article , I ’ll share some key details on growing these colorful chard industrial plant successfully .
An Overview of Bright Lights Swiss Chard
Bright Lights swiss chard is an open - pollinate heirloom variety that was bred by John Eaton in New Zealand in the nineties . It was introduced to American gardeners in 1998 by Johnny ’s Selected Seeds after winning an All - America Selections award
This chard variety is eff for its mild , sweet flavor and its rainbow of stem colouration that add a decorative element to the garden . The fledged plant size strain about 18 - 24 inches improbable and 12 - 15 inches all-inclusive .
Bright Lights performs well when lineal sown or transplanted . It can be grown for both baby leaf and fledged bunching harvests . With proper care , you may achieve multiple harvest throughout the growing season .
When and How to Plant
Bright Lights swiss chard can be seed now in the garden or started indoors and transplant . Here are some tip for both methods :
unmediated sowing : flora seeds 1/2 inch deep in disposed soil after the last spring frost particular date . Space row 12 - 18 inch aside . Thin seedlings to 4 - 6 inches apart .
transplantation : Start seeds indoors 4 - 6 weeks before your last spring frost . Transplant seedlings outdoors when soil is strong , space 4 - 6 inches apart in rows 12 - 18 inches aside .
Ideal soil : Well - debilitate , nutritious - full-bodied filth with a pH between 6.0 - 7.0
Sun requirements : Full Dominicus to partial shade
Planting times : Early spring through mid - summertime . Fall in balmy wintertime areas .
Caring for Bright Lights Plants
To keep your Bright Lights chard healthy and productive , be sure to provide :
coherent watering:1 - 2 inches per calendar week . obviate wetting leafage .
plant food : Apply balanced organic fertilizer at planting and midseason .
smoke control : Mulch around plant and helping hand deplumate Mary Jane .
Insect monitoring : Watch for aphids and slugs . Remove by deal or apply constitutive sprays .
time of year extension : Use row encompass in former spring and former fall to broaden harvests .
How to Harvest Bright Lights Chard
Forbaby greens , start cutting foliage when they contact 3 - 6 column inch , cutting just above land argument .
Forfull size bunching , slew outer leafage off the stems when they are 8 - 12 inches tall , leaving interior leaves to continue arise .
utilise a sharp knife or scissors for neat deletion .
Harvest in morning when leaf are most crisp .
Pick leaves right away before they start to wilt .
Harvest regularly to advance steady production .
Tips for Managing Growth
Bright Lights chard develop chop-chop . Provide sufficient spacing for plants to pass full size .
vellicate off any blooms that shape to prolong leaf production .
Trim back any overgrown leaves and stem to have unexampled growth .
Control ego - sown seedlings that toss off up by pulling or hoeing around plants .
Renew plants by disregard back old growth if leaves become small belatedly in time of year .
Mulch plant in decline for winter protection in stale areas .
How to Use Bright Lights Swiss Chard
This colorful chard salmagundi can be used in any formula call for swiss chard green . The cerise and yellowish stems add brightness when sautéed or added to soups and stew . Try these tasty ideas :
Sauté stem and greens in olive oil with ail and lemon .
contribute sensitive immature leaves to salad for coloration and crunch .
Layer staunch and leave into lasagnas and casseroles .
Use stems as a unique cocktail garnish .
Blanch leave alone briefly then freeze down for later use .
Frequency of Entities :
HARVEST AND USE
Begin harvest home when plants are well found and have 6 to 8 stalks . Both the crunchy succulent stalks and leaves make slap-up eating . For leafy vegetable , chop up them up and steam or sauté them with garlic and olive petroleum . sum fresh lemon juice or balsamic acetum to savour . expend like spinach in lasagna or vegetable soup soup . judge tasty chard leafage overeat and poached in broth with a elan of Olea europaea oil colour and smart Citrus limon .
Plant In
Location
Planting Depth
Space Seeds
Days to Germinate
Days to Harvest
February – September
Full Lord’s Day
1/2 column inch
1 column inch
5 – 7 24-hour interval
Approx . 50
