GROWING CHIVES FROM SEEDS

Chives is a perennial herb. It has a mild onion-like flavor. It is used to garnish different dishes. It can be add to soups, dips, potatoes, fish, omelets. It is often add at the end of cooking a dish to maximize its taste. Chop it very thinly and add it to the dish. It is best to eat them raw to preserve its delicate taste.

Chives are very easy to grow. They survive winter. The stocks are hallow. The seeds are in the dry flowers. They have the mature seeds in it. Chives like plenty of sun. Take a big clump of a chive plants. They can be broken from a big plant take a clump of the plant and replant it. IT will grow well.

PLANTING CHIVES FROM SEEDS IN CONTAINNERS

Fill a small 2 inches wide and 2 inches deep container with potting mix soil. Chives like well drained fertile and nutrient-rich soil with a pH 6.0 and 7.0. Add the seeds. Cover them with a layer of compost. Wet the soil. Place the container in a sunny place. The seeds will germinate after 10 day. Keep the soil constantly moist. Give the plant 3 to 4 hours of morning sunlight.

After 1 month the seedlings are ready to be transplanted to a bigger container. Take a 6 to 8 inches container and fill it wit soil. Remove the plant from the bottom. Gently place it in the new container. Add more soil. Water it. Chives will grow very nicely. It will get 2 feet tall. Keep it watering often. Place them in a sunny area.

HARVESTING TIME

When the chives are tall and robust it is time to harvest it. Clip the leaves back to 1 inch above the soil. harvest from outside the clump rather that sniping top of the leaves. Use a scissor. The plant will continue to re grow after the harvest . It will give you chives the whole summer. The flowers will emerge at the end of the summer. When the flowers change color and they are not purple any more it is time to harvest the seeds.