How to Grow Chives Indoors
Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are a useful addition to an indoor herb garden. They bring spring into the winter environment of your kitchen and make a fresh accompaniment to pizzas, eggs, sauces, salads and vegetables. There's nothing like the feeling of snipping some fresh-grown chives to enhance the flavor of a baked potato, and chives can be an effective substitute for scallions in many dishes, too. With some pampering and the right exposure, chives can thrive in a sunny window and be available to enhance your dishes all year round. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Select a thriving chive plant from the garden or a garden store.
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Remove a clump of chives (with roots) that's about as large as your closed fist. Although you can propagate chives from seed, the easiest way is to start with an established plant.
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Fill a 6-inch pot half full with a quality potting oil. Most modern potting soil mixes are porous, which is good, and have water-retaining properties. If your potting soil looks dry or dense, add 1/2 cup of sand or perlite to the mixture.
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Hold the clump of chives in place and fill the rest of the pot with the potting soil. Cover the roots, filling right up to the crowns of the small plants.
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Pat the soil in place.
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Cut approximately 1/3 of the top growth from the plants. This will stimulate new growth and compensate for any shortage of roots in the clump you selected.
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Place the potted chives in a southern- or western-facing window that receives bright light but little direct sunlight. The most common reason chives fail to thrive in the home is because of a lack of good light.
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Keep the plants uniformly moist. Make sure that water drains well from the pot and that the roots aren't constantly wet.
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Harvest sparingly in the first year, taking only about 2/3 of the new growth from the plants. Once established, chive plants will start to fill out the pot and can be harvested more aggressively. With a healthy indoor plant, you can harvest half the height of the plant in a season.
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Keep your chives in top condition by putting them outdoors for a few days to a few weeks every spring. This will encourage flowering and signal them to begin vigorous growth.
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Tips & Warnings
Snip chives with a sharp pair of scissors directly into dishes.
If your chive plants start to lean toward the light, move them closer to the window or find a sunnier exposure for them.
Chives only need to be fertilized once over the winter months.
Resources
- Photo Credit Courtesy of S. Elliott
