Hardy Tropicals UK

Well I was going to grow some in the veg patch for eating and the chickens, but I may have to think again

A quick up date. They went a bit leggy on the floor of the poly but now they have been moved on to a bench nearer the daylight.

Going well Mark.
Mine were always a bit leggy in the green house.
Once I planted them they sorted themselves out.
I think I may have staked the really top heavy ones with lolly sticks.

Good idea Darren. I have an abundance of lolly sticks

Hi Mark, they're coming on really well there. I MUST try and get some seeds over the weekend and get them sown. I did get a couple of rogue seedlings come up in trays of Cosmos and Nicotiana, but I threw the one in the Cosmos tray away but I'll pot on the Nicotiana tray one on. I've no idea whatsoever how they got in there as I've never grown them before

Thanks, take care

Pete

I have a pack of mixed coloured chard to sow this year. I'm not into neat rows of veg, so they will be sown in small pots and planted out in clumps amongst other plants.

Actually that is a good way to grow them as you do not need to many plants to get a reasonable return and the different coloured stems make an interesting bedding plant, but just be careful as the slugs and snails love it. Also you can eat both the stems and leaves

Dave Brown wrote:I have a pack of mixed coloured chard to sow this year. I'm not into neat rows of veg, so they will be sown in small pots and planted out in clumps amongst other plants.

I get a low success rate when planting out any chard from pot-grown sowings. Too tight a root ball they bolt quickly. Too little growth and compost falls away when trying to transplant - same result. Never tried them with these but jiffy pots would be the safest option if small pots are used.

Best results are direct sowing and a cut out clear plastic bottle over the top. Ugly in an ornamental garden.

The Rainbow Chard can look nice if you let some go to seed - the tall, coloured stems, look rather nice. You can crop their neighbours which will keep them shorter.

they look horrid when gone to seed imho.

Looked for a photo but can't find one. Row of Rainbow ones, occasional ones of suitable colour mix allowed to go to seed, so taller and colourful amongst the others.

But I agree that when the whole lot go to seed they look very scruffy

Thanks for the advice on starting them off Greville. I have loads of seed so will try some in pots but will direct sow others.

All my chards self seed freely after bolting. I find that those that come up by the fruit tree trunks still grow well as long as they get plenty of water. This suggests that if you want to try them as underplanting for a thickly rooted exotic they should still put on a good show and have enough for a regular harvest.

They won't last as long before bolting again, though.