Swiss chard · Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
When to plant swiss chard in Saltillo
Main outdoor window
30 Jan - 20 Feb
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
13 February
In Saltillo, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
21-31 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 Saltillo
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
9-30 Jan
Five weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow for overwintering
3-24 Sep
Counting back 74 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.
Sow direct
30 Jan - 20 Feb
Two weeks before your last frost.
Plant out
6-27 Feb
One week before your last frost.
Harvest
21-31 Mar
Swiss chard through the year
Against the frost risk in Saltillo
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 Saltillo.
The median frost-free season here is 297 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.
Nearby
Swiss chard in places close by
Also in Saltillo
Other vegetables to time
Growing swiss chard in Saltillo
When should I plant swiss chard in Saltillo?
Aim for 30 Jan - 20 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 25 Feb - 18 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will swiss chard be ready to harvest in Saltillo?
Expect to start picking around 21-31 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.