Chard is a popular crop whose leaves are prepared like spinach. After sowing, some hobby gardeners are often surprised that several shoots appear in the planter. These should be separated so that the young plants grow vigorously.
How should you prick chard?
When pricking out chard, you can carefully lift overgrown seedlings from the soil with a wooden stick and separate them or cut off weaker shoots above ground in order to let the strongest stem grow without competition.
Speciality
Mangold is a subspecies of Beta vulgaris. In a botanical sense, its fruits are capsule fruits that are surrounded by the dried perianth. An apparent seed is a dispersal unit consisting of two to six fruits grown together. Therefore, a ball has several lens-shaped seeds.
cultivation
Because of this ecological characteristic, it is even more important that you only use one ball of fruit per plant pot or coconut stick. The seeds germinate from March in a nutrient-poor growing substrate. The ideal germination temperatures are between 15 and 20 degrees. Chard is one of the dark germinators, which is why the capsule fruits are inserted one centimeter deep into the substrate. If you want to sow the seeds directly outdoors, make sure they are two to three centimeters apart.
How to proceed:
- Place the plant pot in a bright place out of direct sun
- Keep soil evenly moist
- Mini greenhouse (€239.00 at Amazon) offers optimal humidity conditions
- accustom four to five centimeter tall plants to a sunnier location
Tip
A shallow and flat container ensures that the plants develop a compact root ball. As soon as the first real leaves appear, the chard goes into a deeper pot.
Pricking
It often happens that all seeds sprout and several shoots grow from the substrate. These can be separated with great sensitivity 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. Only leave the strongest stem standing so that it can continue to develop without competition.
Planting outdoors
Mangold can go into the garden from the end of April. A sunny location is ideal so that the vegetables develop strong leaf stems. The soil conditions are even more important in partially shaded areas. The cultivated plant prefers a nutrient-rich and fresh subsoil that is not prone to waterlogging. Protect the young plants from cold nights in the first few weeks with a garden fleece.
