How to Grow Chives (Garlic Chives)? Detailed Guide to Planting Methods and Timing

Chives (garlic chives) are one of the most ordinary vegetables in our daily lives. They can be stir-fried, boiled, deep-fried, or roasted, and they taste excellent in every way. Chives also have certain medicinal value, mainly for treating some relatively common conditions such as kidney deficiency and general weakness. Many people love eating them, and they are also very easy to grow. Below, Qinong Web will tell you how to grow chives and the planting time for chives.

Planting Time

The planting time for chives is actually very broad. Basically, they can be planted in spring, autumn, and winter. They can actually be planted in summer too, but if the temperature is too high, the survival rate and the yield and quality of growth are not particularly good. The most suitable seasons for planting are spring and autumn. Chives in these two seasons grow most vigorously, growing large and tender with very good quality.

Planting Methods

1. Choosing the Site

Choosing the site for chives is not particularly important, as they have extremely strong adaptability to soil. What matters is what kind of plot allows them to grow better. So we had best choose an area close to a water source. Secondly, the soil's water-retention capacity and fertility should both be very good. This way, the chives that grow will have much stronger reproductive capacity, and at the same time their color will look much better, making them look very appetizing.

2. Planting

There are two ways to plant chives. They can reproduce sexually, and they can also reproduce asexually. Sexual reproduction means sowing seeds in rows in a prepared field to raise seedlings, but this method is basically rarely used in our daily lives. What we most commonly use is transplanting, which is asexual reproduction: planting purchased chive seedlings at certain intervals, usually placing three seedlings in each hole.

3. Density

Chives have very strong reproductive capacity. Basically, about a week after planting and surviving, you will see a few new chive seedlings emerging around a hole that originally had only three chive seedlings. And they will keep multiplying. If not harvested, they will eventually grow densely over the entire field, but they will all be relatively thin rather than thick and sturdy. So the planting density is generally 15 to 20 cm between each plant and 25 to 30 cm between each row.

4. Fertilizing

If you want chives to grow quickly and tenderly, then fertilizing is very necessary. But if the fertilizing method is incorrect, it can also cause the chives to become old and tough, making them completely inedible. The growth process of chives is a continuous one, so first of all, when applying base fertilizer, we must apply enough. Secondly, about a week after planting and surviving, we can mix urea with water and irrigate the chives to promote the growth of the chive seedlings. Thirdly, after each harvest, we should apply additional fertilizer according to the growth condition of the chives and the fertility of the field soil. The fertilizer used can be livestock manure, human excrement and urine water, or urea.

5. Disease Prevention

After planting chives, we need to regularly spray pesticides on them. Chives generally only have some leaf-eating insects, or malnutrition and premature aging caused by insufficient water or nutrients in the field. So we should always observe the growth condition of the chives. As long as we are careful enough, there will basically be no pest or disease problems. If any do appear, we must promptly spray pesticides for prevention and control. The most critical point is that pesticides must not be sprayed within 15 days before harvest, as this will affect quality.

6. Harvesting

In the first two years after planting, the yield of chives will not be very high. Generally starting from the fourth year, the yield of chives begins to increase steadily, and only after the tenth year does it gradually decline. So in order to maintain good yield, we transplant after each harvest, so that production can continue to increase continuously. When harvesting, note that it is best to do so at five or six in the morning, as chives harvested at this time are the freshest. Also note that each harvest should be slightly higher than the previous stubble, so that they will grow normally.