When to Plant Silverbeet in New Zealand: How to Grow, Pick and Store

Updated October 2026

A year-round workhorse that copes with Auckland summers and mild winters alike. Pick the outer leaves regularly and a few plants will keep cropping for many months.

What it looks like as it grows

🌱 Plant profile: Silverbeet, with sowing times for your region, companion plants and common pests.

When to Plant Silverbeet in Your Region

Timing is everything in New Zealand, where the warm north and the cooler south are weeks apart.

Silverbeet is sown from late winter right through to autumn. These are the sowing months for each of our nine New Zealand regions, straight from our planting data. Each region links to its vegetable planting calendar, and the Silverbeet plant page has spacing, companions and care notes for your region.

Silverbeet is hardy and crops for most of the year, but sowing pauses over the coldest months. From Northland to Canterbury, including the Central North Island, our data gives an August to April sowing window, so nothing is sown from May to July. In Otago, Southland and Central Otago the window is shorter, from September to March. The soil is too cold for sowing before September, and a March sowing is the last that will be ready before winter growth stops. A few plants keep cropping for many months, and because silverbeet runs to seed in its second spring, a fresh row each year keeps you supplied. See the Otago and Southland September planting calendar for what else goes in at the start of the southern window.

Best silverbeet varieties for NZ

• Fordhook Giant, Large white-stemmed silverbeet, vigorous and the reliable NZ staple. (Yates NZ, Kings Seeds, Mitre 10)
• Rainbow / Bright Lights Chard, Mixed pink, yellow and orange stems, ornamental and good to eat. (Kings Seeds, Mr Fothergill's NZ)
• Perpetual Spinach (Leaf Beet), Thinner-stemmed leaf beet that crops a long time and tastes closer to spinach. (Kings Seeds, Egmont Seeds)

How to grow silverbeet

• Space plants about 30cm apart.
• Sow seed around 1.5cm deep.
• Position: full sun.
• Ready to harvest in roughly 60 days.
• Seeds germinate in about 10 days.

Growing Silverbeet From Seed or Seedlings

Silverbeet seed is a knobbly cluster that holds several seeds, so one cluster usually gives several seedlings. Our plant data rates it a beginner crop.

1. Soak the seed. Soak the seed clusters in water overnight before sowing.
2. Sow shallow. Sow about 1.5 cm deep in rich, moist soil in full sun or part shade.
3. Keep it moist. Keep the soil damp until the seedlings come up, which takes about 10 days. Our plant data gives a wide germination range of 10 to 30°C.
4. Thin the seedlings. Several plants come up from each cluster, so thin them to the strongest one, leaving about 30 cm between plants.

Seedlings from a garden centre are a quicker start. Plant them at the same 30 cm spacing, water them in well and mulch around them to hold moisture.

Soil, Watering and Feeding

Silverbeet is a hungry leafy crop. Grow it in rich, moist soil with a pH of 6 to 7.5, in full sun or part shade. Keep watering steady so the stems and leaves stay tender, mulch to hold moisture, and feed with nitrogen regularly for continuous growth. Water well in warm spells, because heat is what pushes silverbeet to bolt.

Growing Silverbeet in Pots

Silverbeet grows well in a pot. Our plant data calls for a pot at least 30 cm deep, and at the usual 30 cm spacing a pot that size holds one plant. Fill it with a rich potting mix, set it in full sun or part shade, and keep the mix evenly moist so the stems and leaves stay tender. Feed regularly with a nitrogen-rich liquid feed to keep new leaves coming. Rainbow or Bright Lights chard, with its pink, yellow and orange stems, looks good on a deck or balcony. Our salad greens in containers guide covers mixes and watering for leafy crops in pots.

How Long Until Silverbeet Is Ready, and How to Pick It

Our plant data puts silverbeet at roughly 60 days from sowing to the first picking. Start picking the outer stems once the leaves are large enough to use. Twist or snap each stalk off at the base, and the plant keeps cropping from the centre for months.

Pick often, taking the outer leaves and leaving the young centre to grow on. Silverbeet keeps for up to a week in a sealed bag in the fridge, and for longer storage you can blanch and freeze it for winter soups. The stems can be braised separately like celery, and the leaves are good sautéed with garlic and olive oil or added to frittatas and quiches.

Companion planting

Grow silverbeet near: Beans, Onion, Lettuce, Brassicas.

Pests and problems

Watch for: Leaf miner, Slugs. See our NZ pest and disease guide for organic control.

When it goes wrong

The most common ways silverbeet trips people up, and what to change next time:

Leaves go spotty with brown patches

Leaf spot fungus in humid weather. Remove affected leaves and give it airflow; it usually keeps producing.

Pale trails through the leaves

Leaf miner tunnels pale trails through the leaves. Squash the tracks and remove badly affected leaves.

Bolts to seed

It is biennial, so it runs up in its second spring. Sow a fresh row each year.

Heat can also push plants to bolt, so water well through warm spells.