What Does Tillering in Chives Mean? A Detailed Explanation
Chives are a very common vegetable in our daily life, with very high nutritional value, and are also welcomed by many people. Currently, the planting area of chives is still very large. When planting chives, if we want to increase the yield of chives, then chive tillering is very important. However, many people do not know what chive tillering means. So today I will introduce to you what chive tillering means. Let's take a look below!
1. What Is Tillering
Chives are mainly based on rhizomes. The upper end of the plant will grow terminal buds, and the terminal buds will continuously differentiate into new leaves. The lower part grows the root system. When the seedling has about 6-7 terminal bud leaves, the upper end will begin to sprout lateral buds, and the lateral buds will form a separate plant, beginning the first tillering. When the first tillering has developed into a new separate plant and has a certain amount of growth, if nutrients are sufficient, then it will begin to sprout lateral buds, and so the cycle begins. When the new plant grows large enough, the leaf sheath wrapping it will be broken through, becoming an independent new plant. Then, by analogy, tillering will proceed repeatedly in cycles.
2. Tillering Ability of Chives
The tillering ability of chives varies according to the planting variety and planting conditions. For example, those usually sown in spring of the same year, if there are good planting conditions, then by July-August of that year, at least about half of the plants can form tillers, and some can even form two tillers. Tillering in chives is the main way for them to renew and rejuvenate themselves and delay aging. For 2-3 year old chive plants, they are in a peak growth period, and at this time the tillering ability of chives is also very strong. Some can even tiller out dozens of plants after three years.
3. Relationship Between Planting Density and Tillering
When planting chives, if the planting density is greater, then the number of chive tillers will be fewer. Many people mainly use sparse planting, and in the first two years, mainly provide a growing environment to increase the amount of tillering. After about 3 years, when the number of tillers reaches a certain amount, yield can be guaranteed. Nowadays, when producing chives in protected areas, most attention is paid to high-density planting, and after about three harvests in the winter of that year, they are dug up to plant fruit vegetables.
4. Characteristics of Tillering
Tillering in chives will not increase without limit. If new tillers continue to appear, then old plants will continue to die. Especially for the old plants in the middle of the clump, because their nutrient conditions are relatively poor, the mortality rate is also relatively high. Therefore, the number of tillers per chive plant cannot increase without limit. After a certain time, the number of plants in the chive clump will remain in a relatively stable state, and sometimes will even decrease. So attention should be paid to timely renewal; production cannot continue indefinitely.
The above is a brief introduction to what chive tillering means. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!