Separate Swiss chard/beet seedlings?

[garden5]

OK, so I planted my Swiss chard and multiple plants germinated from each one. I should have expected this since my beets are doing the same thing (they're from the same family).

So.....Should I cull the chard to 1 seedling per seed?

What about the beets? will having more than 1 plant per seed make the beets smaller?

Thanks for your help on this one.

[gixxerific]

Do you mean Swiss Chard?

Yes I would thin them to one plant in a spot. If you have a bunch of them you might want to let a few doubles go. I did this last year and it wasn't terrible. They both grew fairly big. But the singles were a bit better. Yeah surprise on the multiples huh? Last year was my first time with Chard and all of the sudden I have these Chard forest everywhere.

Come to find out the seeds are like teeny tiny Chard seed bombs. There are several in each little ball. Who knew?

Don't know about the beets but I would think definitely thin them. I would imagine that being like growing 2 onions right on top of each other.

[garden5]

Yeah, Gix, that's exactly what I meant; can't believe I missed that typo .

I remember that I had this "multiple beet" thing last year and I believe I heard you should thin them. If you think about it, they'll just crowd each other, like you said.

Thanks for the info on the chard. I guess I'll wait to see the strongest seedling and keep it and get rid of the others.

[jal_ut]

Ya, that little wrinkly thing you might think is a seed is actually a capsule with several seeds in it. Thin the beets for sure if you want nice roots. Not so important on the chard since you are going for leaves.

[garden5]

Ya, that little wrinkly thing you might think is a seed is actually a capsule with several seeds in it. Thin the beets for sure if you want nice roots. Not so important on the chard since you are going for leaves.

That's what I thought about the chard, at first. But then, I thought that I'd probably do better with one plant to a spot sine having two so close together would probably just be detrimental to each one.

[gixxerific]

Ya, that little wrinkly thing you might think is a seed is actually a capsule with several seeds in it. Thin the beets for sure if you want nice roots. Not so important on the chard since you are going for leaves.

That's what I thought about the chard, at first. But then, I thought that I'd probably do better with one plant to a spot sine having two so close together would probably just be detrimental to each one.

AS Jal and I said they will grow doubled up. I didn't realize till late that there were 2 or sometimes 3 plants growing in the same spot. By this time they were huge plants of course the brothers and sisters weren't as big but the bigger sibling was quite huge.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Here is a link to Table beet seed production in Washington. Probably more then your really care to know.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/pokedown.gif[/img]

https://users.tricity.wsu.edu/~cdaniels/profiles/tableBeetPM2.pdf

I like to space my Swiss chard (bright lights) at least 6" apart. Beets about 4".

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Swisschard002-1.jpg[/img]

[tedln]

Wow! I love to learn something new. I was checking my garden this morning looking at the bed where I planted Swiss Chard earlier in the week. I noticed spots where multiple plants were growing where I thought I had planted single Swiss Chard seed. My first thought was that some weed had sprouted in place of the chard.

I found this thread and learned something new about my Chard today.

Thanks

Ted

[sciencegal]

Wow, I didn't know this either. I noticed yesterday that my Chioggia beets are finally coming up, but there are two in each space. Do I cut off the extra one or pull it out? I'm always afraid of damaging one plant when I pull out another that is close.

[gixxerific]

Wow, I didn't know this either. I noticed yesterday that my Chioggia beets are finally coming up, but there are two in each space. Do I cut off the extra one or pull it out? I'm always afraid of damaging one plant when I pull out another that is close.

Cutting it is the safer bet.

[Ozark Lady]

Thanks, Double Dog. That was a very informative pdf. I saved it, because I know I will need to re-read it.

And now, thanks to you, we know how to save our own beet and chard seeds too! I never even thought about it, I overwinter cabbages and brussels to get seeds!

I had to laugh, black leg is a beet disease. I have to vaccinate my goats to prevent disease and it is commonly called black leg vaccine! It is actually a clostridium type thing, I wonder if it is the same thing in beets?