Learn how to harvest chives to keep these plants profuse , healthy , and productive all season long .
Marty Baldwin
Chive plant are have sex for their bright , oniony flavor and pinkish - purpleedible flower that make colourful salad toppersand garnishes . grow this culinary herbaceous plant is wide-eyed , but knowing how to harvest schnittlaugh aright will help keep your plants rich and healthy for many geezerhood to number . expend the harvesting tips in this guidebook to hike the growth of yourchive plantsand enjoy the freshest - sample chives for your favorite recipes .
Credit:Marty Baldwin
When to Harvest Chives
Chives are easy , edible industrial plant that can be harvested throughout the time of year as cut - and - derive - again herbs , or they can be gathered in larger quantities for freezing or dry out .
Chive plants that aregrown from seedare usually quick to glean about 60 days after planting or when plants are about 6 column inch tall . But if you ’re in a rush , you may also develop chives from baby’s room grow plants and initiate harvesting fresh chives about 30 daysafter transplant .
Small quantity of chive leaves can be harvested as needed from spring through fall . If you live in a warm area or grow chives indoors , you could reap schnittlaugh in winter too . But in club to get your hand on chive flowers , you ’ll need to wait for plants to blossom and pick the efflorescence as soon as they appear in late spring or early summertime .
turgid harvest of chives can be get hold of throughout the year as well , but it ’s good to hold off a few week in between harvests to give your plants some time to recover . First yr chive plants can be harvested 3 to 4 time a year , but older and more instal plant can be harvested about once a calendar month . Many growers take a large harvest time of chives immediately after the plant flower and again in fallbefore a strong frostdamages tender chive leaves .
How to Harvest Chives
If you just take a few chives for cooking , reap the older , kayoed leaves around the outside of the flora using your fingertips or a pair of scissors . Chives will grow good and look tidier inherb gardensif you clip leaves off about 1 to 2 inches above the soil argumentation . Chive heyday can be harvested in the same fashion by cutting the woody blossom stalk off at the soil line .
Larger quantities of cive can also be reap by hired hand or with scissors orgarden pruner . To start , pull together the leaves you need in one deal and then cut them off 1 to 2 inch above the base of the industrial plant . If you do n’t have scissor grip handy , you may also pervert chive leave of absence off the industrial plant with a movie of your radiocarpal joint , but verify you do n’t accidentally pull the plant from the ground . Regularly harvest home chive plants from your garden will reduce yellow-bellied leaves and excite new growing , but do n’t overdo it . And remember , chive leaves do n’t last long in the fridge , so it ’s skilful to harvest only what you contrive to use right away .
For easy harvesting , broadly fasten a rubber dance band around the base of your chives before cutting to make a tidy megabucks of chives .
How to Store Chives
After harvest home chives , verify you lay in them properly so they last as long as potential . To avoid wilt leaves , bring fresh chive indoors immediately after harvest home . Then pick out any chickenhearted or wilt stem and use the remain leaves as soon as you may .
If you harvest more leave than you need for preparation , salt away spare chives in the electric refrigerator in a glass filled with about one inch of water and freshen the water daily . you may also enwrap chive leaves in a damp theme towel and store them in a resealable charge card bagin your crisper drawer . When decently lay in , schnittlaugh should stay fresh for about 7 to 14 day .
If you ’d care to store your chive harvesting even longer , you could dehydrate fresh chivesusing a intellectual nourishment dehydratorand stock farewell in an airtight container in your pantry . Or you could wrap chive leaves tightly in an airtight baggie and store them whole in the freezer or hack them into bit and freeze themin ice regular hexahedron trayswith oil or body of water .
Frequently Asked Questions
rent chives flower does n’t harm the plant , although chives wo n’t develop as many leave when they ’re blooming . If you desire to keep these edible plants as productive as potential , remove chive prime and employ them as a garnish . Or you may let chives bloom to attract pollinators andbeneficial insectsto your herb gardens and finally reap chive cum .
you may bear on a bumper crop of chives by immobilize or drying them . However , Allium schoenoprasum are various herbs that also taste pleasant-tasting in mantrap as varied as chive pesto , lemon chive butter , and chive pancake .
Once the flowers have languish , clip the flower head up off into perforated paper bag and take into account them to dry out in a strong stain with good line flow for several weeks . Then shake the seeds barren from the heyday heads and store them in a cool , ironical localisation until you ’re quick to set .
No . Although these plants prefer moist stain , overwatering them could have root rot . Water when the top in of soil feels dry .
No , although you could sometimes substitute immature onions for chives in formula , they have a unlike coming into court and taste . Chives are thinner and more fragile than green onion , and they have a more subtle Allium cepa flavor .
