Swiss chard · Abū al-Kahṣīb, Basra, Iraq
When to plant swiss chard in Abū al-Kahṣīb
Main outdoor window
9-30 Jan
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
23 January
In Abū al-Kahṣīb, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
28 Feb - 10 Mar
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Abū al-Kahṣīb
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
19 Dec - 9 Jan
Five weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow for overwintering
19 Sep - 10 Oct
Counting back 74 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
9-30 Jan
Two weeks before your last frost.
Plant out
16 Jan - 6 Feb
One week before your last frost.
Harvest
28 Feb - 10 Mar
Swiss chard through the year
Against the frost risk in Abū al-Kahṣīb
Why these dates
One spring sowing usually lasts until hard frost. In mild climates it overwinters and produces an early spring flush before bolting.
Takes -5C without protection. Under a cloche it will hold through much colder weather and resume growth in late winter.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Swiss chard are timed from 5 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 1 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Abū al-Kahṣīb.
The median frost-free season here is 334 days, against 50 to 60 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Abū al-Kahṣīb
Other vegetables to time
Growing swiss chard in Abū al-Kahṣīb
When should I plant swiss chard in Abū al-Kahṣīb?
Aim for 9-30 Jan in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 26 Jan - 16 Feb - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will swiss chard be ready to harvest in Abū al-Kahṣīb?
Expect to start picking around 28 Feb - 10 Mar, based on 50 to 60 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will swiss chard tolerate?
Takes -5C without protection. Under a cloche it will hold through much colder weather and resume growth in late winter.