Chard is a popular crop whose leaves are cooked like spinach. After sowing, some hobby gardeners are often surprised that there are several shoots in the planter. These should be isolated so that the young plants grow vigorously.
Several chard plants sprout from one "seed".
special feature
Chard is a subspecies of Beta vulgaris. Its fruits represent capsule fruits in the botanical sense, which are enclosed by the dried perianth. An apparent seed is a dispersal unit of two to six fruits grown together. Therefore, a tangle has several lenticular seeds.
cultivation
Due to this ecological peculiarity, it is all the more important that you only use one fruit ball per plant pot or coconut stick. The seeds germinate from March in a nutrient-poor growing medium. The ideal germination temperatures are between 15 and 20 degrees. Chard belongs to the dark germs, which is why the capsule fruits are inserted one centimeter deep into the substrate. If you want to sow the seeds directly in the field, make sure they are two to three centimeters apart.
Rest of the procedure:
- Place the plant pot in a bright spot out of direct sunlight
- Keep soil evenly moist
- Mini greenhouse provides optimal humidity conditions
- get four to five centimeters high plants used to a sunnier location
tips
A shallow and shallow container will ensure that the plantlets develop a compact root ball. As soon as the first real leaves appear, the chard moves to a deeper pot.
pricking
It is more common for all the seeds to sprout and several shoots to grow out of the substrate. These can be separated with a lot of finesse by levering the overgrown plants out of the ground with a wooden stick and carefully separating them from each other. Since not all young plants remain undamaged with this method, you can alternatively cut off specimens that are too weak above ground. Leave only the strongest stalk so that it can continue to develop without competitive pressure.
Plant outdoors
Mangold may wander into the garden from the end of April. A sunny location is ideal so that the vegetables develop strong leaf stalks. Soil conditions are all the more important in semi-shady places. The cultivated plant prefers a nutrient-rich and fresh subsoil that is not prone to waterlogging. During the first few weeks, protect the young plants from cold nights with a garden fleece.