I got a four pack of Swiss chard and I'm not sure if I should just go ahead and plant it outside or not. And, if I shouldn't, what should I do with it? And, I would also appreciate it if someone could tell me the steps of growing Swiss Chard in detail. Please help! I don't want it to die, I just got it!
A bit of info for you. You can move the plants to the garden approximately 4 weeks before your last frost date.
http://www.gardenersnet.com/vegetable/chard.htm
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/vegetable/how-to-grow-swiss-chard.htm
http://mysquarefootgarden.net/swiss-chard/
I left the root of my Swiss Chard in the ground from last summer and it's already growing back on it's it own. I would harden it off first before putting it in the ground.
If you bought the plants from a place where the plants were exposed to sunlight (even inside a greenhouse), then they should already be hardened off and ready to plant out. (Note that swiss chard is very easy to grow from direct sown seed, and that is the more usual way of growing it, as opposed to buying started plants.)
That chard is tough stuff. Here is one that wintered over exposed in the top pot of a stacked container system. It has grown from about 2 ft tall this spring to about 7 ft tall now from the top of a stack that is about 5 ft tall.
