Last edited on November 01, 2026. View history
Margaret Dale Chard
Margaret Dale Chard
A variety of chard
A New Zealand heritage silverbeet from the Dale family of Ruakaka, Northland. Mid green leaves with a wide, light green or sometimes white mid-rib, and a sweet taste. A strong, healthy grower that needs fertile ground. Sow in trays in spring and early autumn, prick out at 2.5 cm and transplant at 30 cm when about 7 cm tall. Goes to seed around the summer solstice, so plant in late December or January and it will last a whole year in the ground.
- 0
- plantings
- 0
- harvests
- 0
- seed packets
Margaret dale chard facts
Lifespan
Crop cycle
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For Margaret Dale chard, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 50 days at its best temperature, about 750 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your Margaret Dale chard will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing Margaret Dale chard
- Dig compost into the bed 1 week before sowing
- Water regularly at sowing every week
- Thin the seedlings 2 weeks after sowing
- Feed with liquid fertiliser 6 weeks after sowing every month
- Pick the outer leaves at first harvest every week
- Pull out plants that have gone to seed 12 months after first harvest
Video
What people are saying about Margaret Dale chard
Nobody has posted about Margaret Dale chard yet.
Sign in or sign up to post your tips and experiences growing Margaret Dale chard.
Who's planted Margaret Dale chard
Nobody has planted this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your Margaret Dale chard plantings.Margaret dale chard harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
Sign in or sign up to track your Margaret Dale chard harvests.Find Margaret Dale chard seeds
There are no seeds available to trade on Growstuff right now.
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 50 to 150 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Beta vulgaris var. cicla
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Caryophyllidae Caryophyllales Chenopodiaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | biennial |
| Habit | acaulescent (or rosette plants) |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about Margaret Dale chard
Resources outside Growstuff.
