How to grow chives indoors

Sun: Chives thrive in full sun, but they will grow almost anywhere. If you are growing chives indoors, place them in a south-facing window or a spot that receives at least six hours of sunshine. Water: Keep the soil moist. Chives grow best when watered frequently, as long as there is proper soil drainage.

Method 3: Cut chives back to the ground – You can cut chives back to the ground at any time, and they will grow back. Use this method either in late fall once the plant goes dormant, or to revitalize overgrown chives anytime.

Grow Chives Indoors:

You can enjoy the mild chive flavor all winter long. See 5 Herbs that Thrive Inside All Winter for more herbs that withstand indoor winter growing conditions. Indoor chives thrive on a south-facing window that receives at least 4-6 hours of sunlight per day.

Chives thrive in full sun and well drained soil rich in organic matter. The easiest and most successful way of growing chives is planting rooted clumps in spring, after frost danger has passed. You can easily grow chives indoors in a bright, sunny location. Harvest chives by snipping leaves from the base of the plant.

Chives will multiply if flowers are allowed to seed out. Mature plants can be divided and transplanted every few years.

Planting Chives

Water the pot thoroughly, and continue to water every day or so, maintaining a high level of surface moisture until the seeds have germinated. Once the chive sprouts are about an inch or so high, thin them out so that they are at least three inches apart.

Chives are perennial. They will grow in clumps, with small bulbs at the bases of each leaf set, and these bulbs are attached by a rhizomatous root that spreads very slowly, horizontally beneath the surface of the soil. Chives are hardy to Zone 3, but will die back in harsh winters, emerging in the spring.

The main reasons for chive seeds not germinating include using the wrong soil mix, old seeds, under or overwatering, too much light. Other causes of chive seeds not germinating might be pests eating the seeds, covering seeds with too much soil, sowing, and keeping chive seeds in cold conditions.

When a chives plant runs out of growing space or some of its leaves get old, those leaves may yellow at the tips and die. If leaves turn entirely yellow, cut them off and use them for compost.

Signs that you are overwatering chives:

Leaves will turn yellow (discoloration), and lower section leaves will start to fall off. Slow and stunted growth. Foliage wilting. Soft foliage.

Chive Plant Drooping/Not Standing Up

A drooping chive plant isn’t uncommon. Luckily, even if your chive plant is near-death, as long as it has a little bit of life left in it, it can be relatively easy to revive it. In order to do this, the reason for drooping must be established first.

Fill a large bowl with ice and cold water. Remove any bruised or blackened leaves, and then submerge the wilted herbs, stems and all, into the ice bath. The cold water will shock the herbs back to life. Depending on the herb and just how wilted it is, this could take as little as 15 minutes to as long as an hour.

To keep chives productive, remove faded flowers or use the edible blooms when young to brighten salads. Chives are best used fresh. The leaves can also be frozen – chop them finely, pack into an ice-cube tray and top up with water, then freeze. Pop out cubes whenever you need them.

Well, there’s really no harm in letting your chives bloom, but your harvest might get smaller if you do. Most plants will produce smaller leaves when there are flowers too. The flower stalk is usually also hard and you can’t eat it.

The chive plant will flower in late spring or early summer. The flowers are edible and taste best just after they have opened—they should look full and bright.

Neither onions chives nor garlic chives will spread, though the clump will get larger (like a bunching onion). However, garlic chives will reseed if the blooms are left on the plant long enough for seeds to mature and fall into the garden.

The entire part of the plant can be eaten. Even the lilac flowers of wild chives are edible as well as beautiful when garnished atop a salad or soup. Wild chives look similar to wild garlic in that they both have hollow leaves while wild onion foliage does not.

Garlic chives coming up in spring. Even though it can spread aggressively by seed, the seedlings are relatively easy to remove when young (although they can be quite numerous, so weeding may take a lot of time). This plant can be invasive under some conditions, so should be planted with care.

Chives grow well with just about anything. Grapes, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, kohlrabi, mustard, peppers, potatoes, rhubarb, roses, squash, and strawberries all do better when growing near chives. Asparagus, beans, peas, and spinach, however, have a harder time growing when planted near chives.

Avoid planting near chives, garlic, leeks, and onions. Pole beans and beets stunt each other’s growth.

Chives. Chives produce 6″ to 12″ clumps of grass-like leaves that can be clipped and added to salads, stews and other dishes. Though chives prefer full sun, they will tolerate a considerable amount of shade, especially in hot climates.