Garlic Chive Plant Care

Preparation

• Choose a location for your chives that has good soil drainage and six to eight hours per day of sunlight. Garlic chives are not fussy plants. They can survive in partial shade, occasional flooding, minor droughts or cold spells, however, optimum conditions will keep your plants thriving and promote the best flavor.

  Avoid planting your chives near onions, as one of the few pests that may cause problems with garlic chives is the onion fly. Because garlic chives repel most common garden pests such as white flies, mites and aphids, they make great companion plants or borders for other vegetable and ornamental plants. If you live where winters are very mild, garlic chives can sometimes be invasive. To keep them under control, grow them in containers, which can be placed near other plants or sunk into the ground, then prune off blossoms before they seed.

  Make sure the soil is loose and rich. Mix a heavy helping of compost into your ground soil, or plant chives in containers filled with pure compost. Work in 1 cup of bonemeal per square yard, or a tablespoon or two into a container.

Planting

• Choose from one of three ways to grow chives. The first option is purchasing inexpensive starter plants from a nursery. This is a great option for those who just want a plant or two for use almost immediately. You can transplant starter plants into the ground or another container.

  Another option is sowing seeds. Keep the growing medium moist and sow seeds approximately 1/8-inch below the soil surface. Seeds will sprout in two to four weeks.

  You can sow them directly into the spring as soon as the ground warms up, or, if you live where the winters are very mild and the summers very hot, sow seeds in September to avoid the worst of the heat. If you prefer, you can start them in containers in early spring and transplant them when the ground is warm. If you are planning on growing them in containers, you can plant them anytime as long as you can bring the plants indoors and set them on a sunny windowsill during frosts.

  A final option that is best for those who have established plants is to propagate by division every two or three years. Dig up the garlic chive bulbs, separate them and replant them, spacing them 4 to 8 inches apart. This is best done in early spring or early fall.

Care

• Keep the growing medium moist, but not soggy or muddy. A light layer of compost used as mulch will discourage weeds, retain moisture and break down to keep the soil rich.

  Chives are not heavy feeders, but will benefit from an occasional watering with liquid fertilizer, such as a manure tea or all-purpose water-soluble vegetable fertilizer. This can be applied every three to four months if in the ground, or every six to eight weeks in containers.

  Once chives reach a height of 4 inches, you can begin harvesting them by grasping what you will need and cutting them with scissors, leaving approximately 2 inches of growth above the soil line. Frequent harvesting or cutting them back occasionally will promote heavier growth.

  Avoid allowing the chives to bloom, as this will slow growth. You can pinch off the flower stalks as they grow, or if you want to have some blooms for culinary uses, harvest them before they drop seeds.

  Outdoor plants will die back as cold weather sets in so cover your plants with a thick layer of mulch or compost. Growth will begin again in the springtime.