Chives are one of the most popular kitchen herbs that are grown in the home garden. We will explain in detail which locations are suitable and how to plant chives correctly.
Fresh chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are suitable for many dishes and are easy to cultivate in your own garden or in a pot. Chives, which belong to the Allium family (Allioideae), are associated with both onions (Allium cepa) and garlic (Allium sativum) and Leeks (Allium porrum) closely related. Due to its slightly spicy taste, it is very popular in the home kitchen. It is also known for its purple flower heads that beautify the garden. In our main article you will find a short profile, as well as care and harvesting tips for chives.
In this article we will also show you how you can sow chives in pots or in beds at home and cultivate them perennial.
Planting chives: What is the right location?
The cultivation of chives is basically quite simple and usually succeeds without any problems. A sunny to partially shaded, warm spot in the garden is ideal for chives. A slightly sandy, humus-rich and well-aerated, loose soil is ideal. Constant soil moisture is also important for the herbaceous plant so that it can grow he althily. Slightly acidic to neutral soil conditions are preferred by chives to calcareous sites. In addition, the plant can easily be grown in a raised bed or in a greenhouse.
Tip: However, leaving the plant permanently indoors can lead to reduced growth, as the light intensity there is often insufficient. It is therefore better for the chives to move to a warm outdoor location during the sunny summer months.
Planting chives in pots
The following applies to the cultivation of chives: The leek plant can be cultivated both in pots and outdoors. The choice depends on personal taste and theavailable space. If you want to plant chives in a pot, you should ensure that the potting soil is always loose and never saturated with water. Holes in the bottom of the pot are therefore extremely important. A layer of expanded clay should always be placed in the bottom of the pot so that the water can drain off easily. Chives from the supermarket are usually sold in pots that are much too small, which is why it is advisable to repot them quickly. However, it is also possible to sow chives directly into the pot without any problems - the procedure for this is described below. A bright, sunny place in the fresh air is suitable for the pot in summer. During the cold season from the beginning of October, the chives can move to a cool, frost-free place, but preferably not to a warm apartment. If you still want to harvest vital plants in winter, you can use the forcing process of chives.
Tip: When forcing chives, the group of plants changes places and is cultivated indoors. However, if the chives are simply placed in the autumn, reduced growth is observed and the plants can even die. In our main article on chives, you can find out how you can have he althy chives in your home even in winter with the help of forcing chives.
What is the right soil for chives?
Chives need a nutrient-rich soil. Many herb lovers instinctively reach for nutrient-poor herb soil for any type of herb. Such soil is perfect for aromatic plants that love low nutrient supply and lose flavor when too many nutrients are available. But it's different with chives: The leek plant has a high nutrient requirement and is not dependent on dry, coarse soil, which herbal soil tries to imitate. On the other hand, a universal soil such as our Plantura organic universal soil based on compost is perfectly suitable. It supplies nutrients as needed over a long period of time by soil organisms releasing nutrients from the compost. In addition, our Plantura universal soil is made completely peat-free and without the addition of animal products, which is kind to the environment.
Sowing chives: How to do it
If you want to grow chives yourself, you have several options. However, sowing seeds is certainly the most common method. The ideal time for this is between March and July. Chives are cold germs, which is whyit needs a cold stimulus at the beginning of the growing season. Seeds harvested from your own plants should therefore be cooled for about two weeks before sowing the chives - this signals to the seeds that a winter has taken place and encourages them to germinate. Refrigerator temperatures are completely sufficient for this. Then the seed is sown, a temperature of about 12 to 18 °C is optimal. Higher or lower temperatures may take longer to germinate, typically taking 7 to 14 days before seeds visibly germinate. Purchased seeds that have been stratified no longer need to be refrigerated in advance and can be sown directly.
The seeds are sown at a depth of 1 to 2 cm directly in the bed or in a pot - ideally in a high-quality potting soil such as our Plantura organic herb and seed soil. You do not have to pay attention to an exact seed spacing, scattering the seeds loosely is the best method. Chive seeds only germinate in the dark and must therefore be covered with soil. The seeds should be pressed lightly, watered well and kept constantly moist for the next time. If the chives are sown in a pot, you can cover the pot with a pane of glass or cling film to create a greenhouse climate. However, the lid should occasionally be lifted briefly to prevent fungal infestation.
Tip: Our Plantura herb growing set contains precise instructions and all the necessary tools for sowing chives. You will also find four other aromatic kitchen herbs for the windowsill or the herb bed.
Prick out the chives and plant them out
If you prefer the seeds in a warm place, you can transfer the young plants outdoors as soon as they are about 5 cm tall. The best time for this is between April and July, when there are no longer periods of frost and the leaves can no longer freeze off. It is also important to transfer the young plants to larger pots with nutrient-rich soil after germination in seed soil. A high-quality potting soil such as our organic universal soil is again suitable for this. The addition of a fertilizer in granular form can also promote growth in the long term, as the chives are constantly provided with all the important nutrients. Our Plantura organic universal fertilizer, for example, provides the best conditions for he althy and vital growth thanks to a balanced nutrient ratio.
More actions likeThere is no need to prick or turn chives. How to properly care for the young chives and let them grow into a strong plant is explained in detail in our article on caring for chives.
Chives are particularly suitable as part of a mixed culture because they have a positive effect on numerous diseases in other types of fruit or vegetables. For example, it reduces the risk of gray mold on strawberries (Fragaria) or the risk of infection of cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) with downy mildew.
Mixed cultivation with deep-rooted vegetables such as black salsify (Scorzonera hispanica) or radish (Raphanus) is possible, as is cultivation in the vicinity of tomatoes ( Solanum lycopersicum) or other herbs such as dill (Anethum graveolens), parsley (Petroselinum crispum) or thyme ( Thymus).
Due to the poor self-compatibility of leek species, chives should not be grown directly with other Allium species. With new plantings, it is therefore advisable to ensure a break in cultivation of four to six years on the area. In cabbage plants (Brassica) such as kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica), kohlrabi ( Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes) or Radishes (Raphanus sativus var. sativus ) there can also be problems, which is why a mixed culture does not make sense. Different types of chives also offer an opportunity to bring a little more variety to the local vegetable patch.
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