Learning how to grow chives at home is easier than you think!
From adding color and flavor to your garden to culinary use, chives offer an easy and delicious solution.
In this blog post we’ll go over how to grow them yourself as well as use their flowers in culinary applications – giving you all of the knowledge necessary to start growing and using chive flowers in your own kitchen.
Helpful Items When Growing Chives
About Chives
Chives, belong to the onion family, and are perennial herbs with long, thin green leaves that can reach up to one foot tall.
Their purple blooms appear in late spring or early summer. Chives can be found throughout Europe, Asia, and North America and have long been used for both culinary and medicinal purposes.
Chives offer a mild onion-like flavor, making them ideal for seasoning dishes such as soups, salads and dressings.
Furthermore, their use can also add color and depth to herb butters, sauces and spreads.
Chives offer more than culinary benefits; they also boast numerous health advantages. Packed with antioxidants and vitamin C, chives can boost immune system health as well as promote skin and hair health.
Their anti-inflammatory properties may even lower risks associated with heart disease or cancer.
Chive flowers, which emerge in spring and early summer, can also be utilized in cooking.
With milder flavor than its leaves, chive flowers make an excellent garnish or addition to salads and soups; or can even be added into dressings and marinades with ease.
Furthermore, these lovely blossoms can even be infused with oil or vinegar for use as dressings and marinades, or used to craft floral-flavored herbal teas!
Ultimately, chives offer a versatile culinary option that add a unique edge to any dish; with some experience you can learn to utilize its flowers even further enhance your culinary prowess further!
Types of Chives to Grow
Growing chives requires knowing the different varieties available; most commonly seen is the regular, or common, variety – with long thin leaves and mild onion flavor reminiscent of those found in scrambled eggs or potato salad dishes.
Garlic chives, more commonly referred to as Chinese chives, feature flat leaves with an intense garlic flavor.
They’re used commonly in Asian cooking for stir-fry and dumpling dishes.
No matter which variety of chives you grow, don’t overlook the delicious flowers that will bloom in spring.
They can add an unexpected pop of color and sweetness to any dish.
Simply pick fully open flowers when they reach full size and sprinkle them onto salads, soups or pizza as desired for maximum impact!
Chive flowers feature mild onion flavors while remaining tasty additions for every meal!
How to Plant Chive Seeds
If you want to start growing chives from seeds, it’s essential that the right conditions be established from the outset.
Chives prefer fertile, well-draining soil with ample sunlight; otherwise they won’t thrive.
Before planting your chive seeds, begin by prepping the soil by adding compost or organic matter.
Next, spread out your seeds evenly across the surface, pressing gently down into the ground but without covering too deeply.
Once you’ve planted your chive seeds, make sure to water them regularly to keep their soil damp and prevent overwatering, which could result in mold or other fungal diseases forming in their roots.
As your chive plants begin to grow, use their leaves in your culinary endeavors. Simply cut the leaves for use.
The leaves will soon regrow to be used again.
When to Plant Your Chives
If you are planning on cultivating chives at home, it’s essential that you know when and how to plant your seeds for maximum success.
Chives are perennial herbs which means they’ll come back year after year – here are some tips on when best to plant your chive seeds:
1. Outdoor Planting: To best plant chive seeds outdoors, early spring or late summer is usually best. In cooler regions, wait until after the last frost before sowing your seeds outdoors.
2. Indoor Planting: To give chive seeds the best chance for success when transplanted outdoors later, start them indoors early either during winter or spring in small containers filled with well-draining soil and place in a sunny location.
If you started your chive seeds indoors, wait until they have reached at least six inches in height before transplanting them outside – usually when the last frost has gone away and weather conditions begin warming up.
3. Winter Sowing: Winter sowing is the process of starting seeds outdoors in gallon water jugs. I have found great success using this method and recommend it to anyone looking to start their own seeds. Not only does it save indoor space, this method produces healthier, hardier plants.
By following these planting guidelines for when to sow chive seeds, you’re on your way to reaping an abundant harvest – don’t forget the stunning blossoms as an extra tasty bonus!
How to Care for Your Chives
Chives are relatively easy to care for and require minimal attention.
Here are a few tips on keeping them healthy and productive.
Chives need moderate watering and should be watered regularly to keep their soil moist, however overwatering may cause root rot, so be careful that it doesn’t become too damp.
A good way to test soil moisture levels is to stick your finger into the soil about an inch deep – if it feels dry it’s time for more irrigation!
Conversely, you can purchase a moisture meter which will give you an accurate idea of the moisture levels in the soil. You can then water accordingly.
Chives don’t require much fertilization, but a balanced fertilizer regimen will still promote their healthy development.
You can add compost or well-rotted manure when planting them in soil, or use fertilizers during their growing season.
Chives thrive in full sunlight but also tolerate partial shade conditions. When grown indoors, ensure they’re placed near windows so as to get ample sunshine.
Mulching can help keep soil moist while suppressing weeds. Use straw, grass clippings or leaves as mulch around the base of your chive plants for best results.
Chives can become overgrown over time, so it is advisable to divide them every few years. You can do this by gently digging up and separating out their bulbs before replanting them in new locations with fresh soil.
By following these care tips, your chive plants will remain healthy and productive – providing fresh herbs all season long!
Pests and Diseases
Like other plants, chives can fall victim to pests and diseases.
Therefore, it’s essential that you monitor them closely in order to spot signs of trouble early. Here are some key indicators:
Onion Maggots: These tiny white maggots feed on the roots of chive plants, stunting growth and yellowing leaves. To avoid onion maggots, avoid planting your chives next to onions or garlic as this could attract them; row covers can also help protect plants.
Thrips: These tiny insects feed by sucking up sap from chive leaves, leaving silvery spots and distortion behind. Insecticidal soap or neem oil may help control them.
Aphids: Aphids can infest chive leaves and stems, leading to stunted growth and yellowed leaves. Control can be achieved using insecticidal soap or by spraying your plant with a strong jet of water.
Leaf Blight: This fungal disease causes brown spots on chive leaves and eventually kills the plant if left unchecked. To combat it, water your chives only at their base without getting any on their leaves and consider applying copper fungicide spray for extra protection.
Powdery Mildew: Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that creates a white powdery coating on chive leaves, slowing growth. It thrives in humid conditions. To combat powdery mildew, avoid watering in the evening as this creates damp conditions overnight that encourage the disease. You could also try spraying them with fungicide.
By regularly inspecting and treating chive plants for pests and diseases, you can help ensure a tasty harvest of delicious chives.
Companion Planting
Companion planting is a technique in which certain plants are planted adjacently in order to take advantage of each other.
By carefully choosing and planting specific crops together in close proximity, companion planting can improve garden health, increase yields, and deter pests.
Chives make great companion plants. Planting them near tomatoes will repel hornworms that feed on them; in addition, their bee-attracting qualities help pollinate your tomatoes!
Carrots make an excellent companion plant for chives. Not only do their soil requirements align perfectly, but chives also serve to deter carrot flies that may damage crops by acting as deterrents against them. Plus, when planted nearby they’ll help enhance flavor!
Marigolds make an excellent companion plant to chives. Marigolds’ brightly-hued flowers provide protection from garden pests like nematodes, aphids and whiteflies while adding an eye-catching splash of color. Plus they add an eye-catching pop of brightness.
For successful companion planting, it’s essential to conduct adequate research and select plants that will complement one another.
Avoid pairing crops that share similar pest or soil requirements – selecting compatible companion plants will create a thriving garden ecosystem which encourages healthy and happy plants! If you would like more information on companion planting, our square-foot garden guide is a wonderful resource.
When and How to Harvest Your Chives
Chives are an invaluable herb, versatile enough to be used both fresh and dried in many dishes from soups to salads to dips and sauces.
Better still, harvesting chives is effortless so that fresh herbs are always at hand when needed!
When to Harvest Chives:
Harvest chives when their leaves reach six inches long for optimal results. Regular harvesting encourages plants to produce more foliage, so be sure not to cut back too drastically during their growing period.
You can harvest your chives periodically throughout the year as long as you do not significantly cut back their growth.
How to Harvest Chives: Step-by-Step Harvest Guide:
To harvest chives, simply snip off their leaves at the base of the plant with sharp scissors or garden shears.
Make sure that only one third of your plant is cut back at any one time to allow time for regrow.
After harvesting you can either enjoy fresh leaves immediately or dry them for later use.
If you plan to use chive flowers as part of your culinary creations, be sure to harvest them when they’re fully bloomed.
Chive flowers not only taste great, but can be an attractive garnish in salads and other dishes as well.
What to Do With Your Chive Flowers
Chive flowers not only add beautiful aesthetics, but they’re also edible and add subtle onion flavor to dishes.
Here are a few ways chives could become part of your culinary arsenal:
1. Garnish: Chive flowers make an attractive garnish for salads, soups and other dishes. Their vibrant purple blooms can add an eye-catching splash of color to your plate.
2. Chive Infused Oil: Chive flowers make an ideal ingredient to infuse oil for dressings and dips; simply put a handful in an empty bottle of olive oil and allow it to sit for several days before using it as desired.
3. Chive Vinegar: If you want a fun alternative, why not infuse vinegar with chive flowers? Simply combine the flowers and vinegar in a jar and leave for one week before straining out for use on salads and in other recipes! Your new Chive Vinegar could become part of the culinary mix!
4. Butter: Blend softened butter with chopped chive flowers for an irresistibly flavorful spread that’s great for toast or topping your favorite vegetables.
5. Tea: Chive flower tea can also be made by steeping several flowers in hot water for several minutes to produce a mild onion-flavored beverage that’s said to offer digestive and other health benefits.
Final Thoughts
Growing chives at home can make an excellent addition to any kitchen garden.
Not only is this herb easy to cultivate, but its versatility also provides many uses in the kitchen; you can add them to soups, salads and even scrambled eggs as a delicious and healthy way of adding extra flavor!
Chives are an attractive plant that will bring color and life to any garden with their delicate purple flowers, adding vibrant touches that you can harvest for decorative additions in salads and other dishes.
Don’t forget that their delicate petals can also make tasty garnishes!
Overall, with some care and consideration, chives can make an excellent addition to both your garden and kitchen.
Let us know in the comments below if you will be giving them a try this gardening season! Contact Us
