Swiss chard · Irkutsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia
When to plant swiss chard in Irkutsk
Main outdoor window
6-27 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
20 May
In Irkutsk, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
25 Jun - 5 Jul
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 Irkutsk
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
15 Apr - 6 May
Five weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
6-27 May
Two weeks before your last frost.
Plant out
13 May - 3 Jun
One week before your last frost.
Harvest
25 Jun - 5 Jul
Swiss chard through the year
Against the frost risk in Irkutsk
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 Irkutsk.
The median frost-free season here is 123 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 Irkutsk
Other vegetables to time
Growing swiss chard in Irkutsk
When should I plant swiss chard in Irkutsk?
Aim for 6-27 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 13 May - 3 Jun - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will swiss chard be ready to harvest in Irkutsk?
Expect to start picking around 25 Jun - 5 Jul, 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.