Chard Bright Lights Seeds

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Chard Bright Lights has eye catching brightly coloured stems. It is a prolific grower with a long cropping season and is regarded as a cool weather vegetable which will withstand all but the hardest frosts.

Chard is a good choice for those beginners as it is more or less trouble free crop, and can easily be grown in borders or patio containers.

Very popular in salad leaf mixes that you buy from the supermarkets, chard can be grown for cut and come again harvesting for babyleaf use in salads. The plants can also be grown on and the stems can be stripped and cooked (best when young and tender), whilst the larger leaves which are packed with full nutrition can be cooked like spinach.

This is a mixed pack of a range of colours. You'll need only one or two sowings for growing all year, as this stunning variety is very slow to bolt.

Average Packet Contents: 150 seeds

How To Successfully Grow Rainbow Chard ‘Bright Lights’

Rainbow chard (leaf beet) is very easy to grow, looks great with its multi-coloured range of stems and tastes delicious. The variety ‘Bright Lights’, is particularly striking in that it produces plants with a range of vibrant coloured stems in various shades of red, yellow and orange. These plants look right at home in herbaceous borders or anywhere in the garden that needs literally brightening up.

Seed sowing

Seeds can be sown indoors, in a greenhouse in March and April to give the plants a head start. You can sow the seed clusters 2cm deep in pots or modular trays of damp seed compost at the rate of one per pot or module. Each cluster will produce 3-5 seedlings, so you will need to reduce these to one healthy plant. Ensure the pots or trays do not dry out. Germination takes 5-7 days.

Alternatively, you can sow directly outdoors into well prepared seed beds from April to July. Create a furrow around 2cm deep and sow the seeds thinly. Cover with fine soil and water with a watering can and fine rose attachment. Thin the emerging seedlings to 30cm apart for large plants, much less if growing for cut and come again baby leaves.

Growing in containers

Rainbow chard will grow well in containers of fertile soil or compost and the plants looks great placed on a sunny patio. Plants that have been grown under cover can be transplanted to containers from May onwards or when all danger of frost has passed. It’s always a good idea to acclimatise (harden off) plants that are grown under cover as they will be tender and susceptible to frost and wind damage.

Growing in beds

If growing outdoors in beds, borders or the kitchen garden plot, then ensure the area has been well prepared previously by incorporating plenty of organic matter. This task is always best carried out at least 2 months before planting. You can transplant pot or modular grown plants to their permanent positions during May at 30cm apart, ensuring they are well watered in. Pot grown plants will establish quicker than plants sown directly into the soil and will be ready for harvesting sooner.

General aftercare

Rainbow chard produce leaves with large surface areas and can therefore lose moisture quickly during hot, sunny days. Regular watering is important in order to keep the leaves soft and fresh. Remove any yellowing leaves and stems as they appear, which will normally be the outer leaves. Keep beds weed free by hoeing or hand weeding as weeds can attract aphids and other pests.

Applying a mulch around the base of plants can help with both conserving moisture and with weed control. Adding a liquid feed to the watering routine at 2 weekly intervals will also help plants grow strong and healthy. Rainbow chard is very slow to bolt (go to seed) so you could be tending your plants throughout the whole summer months.