🥬 Swiss chard
The same species as beetroot, selected for leaves and stems instead of roots. Cut and it grows back.
🌱 This one is in the reference and the planting calendar, but you cannot sow it in the game yet.
What the numbers mean
These are the actual parameters this game runs on. Growth is driven by growing degree days: each day contributes max(0, min(mean temp, 30) − 4), and Swiss chard is ready when that total reaches 680. That is why the same seed takes a very different number of days in Dublin and in Guangzhou.
| Base temperature | 4°CBelow this, the plant accumulates no growing degree days at all. |
|---|---|
| Degree days to maturity | 680 °C·dThe heat budget it must accumulate before it is ready to pick. |
| Comfortable range | 7–26°CWhere it grows without stress. |
| Frost damage below | -6°CLeaves start taking frost damage below this low. |
| Killed below | -12°CBelow this it does not come back. |
| Heat stress above | 30°CAbove this the plant slows down and stops setting fruit well. |
| Typical time to harvest | 50–65 days |
| Yield per bed | 8 bunches |
Things worth knowing
- Chard and beetroot are the same species — one bred for its leaves, the other for its root.
- Its stems come in red, yellow, white and pink, which is where the name rainbow chard comes from.
Where and when to sow Swiss chard
Pick your city to see the months when Swiss chard scores well against that city's real climate records: