RHS Growing Guides
How to grow chives
Our detailed growing guide will help you with each step in successfully growing Chives.
Getting Started
Forming clumps of mild, onion-flavoured leaves, chives are tasty, versatile and low maintenance, ideal for even the smallest gardens. These herbaceous
Chives are easy, tasty and decorative, perfect for pots, herb beds and veg plots
Month by Month
Jobs to do now
| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sow | ||||||||||||
| Plant Out | ||||||||||||
| Harvest |
Choosing
Most chive seeds and plants offered for sale are Allium schoenoprasum. There are some varieties available, as well as several related species:
- A. schoenoprasum 'Forescate' – grows larger than the species and has pink flowers
- A. schoenoprasum f. albiflorum – white flowered form
- A. tuberosum (garlic chives or Chinese chives) – these form larger clumps of taller leaves, 40-50cm (16-20in) long, that are flat rather than cylindrical and have a mild garlic flavour. The clusters of starry white flowers are also edible
- A. nutans (Siberian garlic chives, blue chives of flat-stalked garlic) – these have broad, flat, grey-green leaves up to 60cm (2ft) tall, with a mild garlic flavour and edible, bluish-mauve or pale pink flowers
A wide range of herbs, including chives, are grown in all the RHS gardens, so do visit them for inspiration and growing tips.
What and where to buy
Chives, in the foreground, are widely available as small plants in 9cm (3½in) pots
Recommended Varieties
Allium tuberosum – also called Chinese chives. Flat leaves with a mild garlic flavour. White flowers.
Sowing
Although plants in small pots are readily available and usually reasonably priced, you can also grow chives from seed.
Sowing indoors
Early spring is an ideal time to sow chives indoors to produce young plants ready for planting out in late spring or early summer, once they’re about 10cm (4in) tall. Later sowings through spring and summer can be made, especially if you want to keep a regular supply of young plants indoors on a sunny kitchen windowsill.
Fill modular trays or small pots with peat-free seed compost and sow a few seeds at a depth of 0.5-1cm (¼–½in) into each module or pot and place in a warm, bright space. Keep the compost slightly moist.
Sowing outdoors
In spring, sow chives outdoors directly into the ground or a container in a sunny or partially shaded area. Before sowing, weed the ground thoroughly then fork it over to break up any hard lumps. Remove any stones and rake to a fine texture. Alternatively, if you’re practising no-dig, mulch the surface with a layer of well-rotted, fine organic matter and sow directly into the mulch. If sowing into containers, use a good quality peat-free, loam-based compost. Sow thinly at a depth of 0.5-1cm (¼–½in) and thin seedlings to 15–20cm (6–8in) apart.
Planting
The quickest and easiest way to get chives started in your garden is to buy young potted plants. These can be planted outside at any time of year, although spring is an ideal time. Large plants can often be pulled apart into several smaller clumps for planting. You can also transplant young seed-raised plants outdoors once they’re about 10cm (4in) tall. If you're planting out indoor-grown chives before June, be sure to acclimatise them to outdoor conditions by hardening them off.
Choose a planting site in sun or partial shade with fertile, moisture-retentive soil that doesn't become waterlogged. No soil preparation is generally needed before planting. However, if your soil is poor, mix some organic matter, such as garden compost, into the soil you remove from your planting hole and use this to backfill after planting. This minimises soil disturbance and helps your plant get off to a strong start.
Chives grow well in containers, which can be placed in a handy spot, so you can pick them easily whenever needed. Use a peat-free soil-based compost to fill a container at least 20cm (8in) wide and deep.
When planting, space the clumps at least 15cm (6in) apart, and position them at the same level they were previously growing, then firm in and water well.
Plant Care
Snip off the spent flower stalks to make harvesting easier and prevent self-seeding
Watering
Water newly planted chives during dry spells in their first summer. Once established in the ground, they shouldn't need any additional watering – except during exceptionally prolonged dry spells. Plants in containers dry out more quickly, so water during the growing season to keep the compost evenly moist.
Mulching
In late winter or early spring, apply a mulch of well-rotted organic matter, such as garden compost, around clumps of chives growing in the ground. Mulching will improve your soil, help to retain moisture and suppress weeds.
Propagating
Simply pull apart a large clump of chives, then replant about 15cm (6in) apart
Chives will readily self-seed when given suitable growing conditions. If you leave some plants to flower and set seed, you can either collect the seeds to sow yourself or let them drop and grow where they like.
Flowering
Chives produce pompom flowerheads in late spring and summer, which look decorative and are edible too. The nectar-rich flowers are also great for pollinating insects. After flowering, to keep the plants looking neat, snip out the tough flower stalks right at the base, unless you want the plants to self-seed (see Propagating above). Alternatively, cut the whole clump down to about 5cm (2in), to stimulate a flush of fresh foliage that you can start picking in a few weeks.
Harvesting
Scatter chive flowers on salads and other dishes, or leave them for pollinators to enjoy
To harvest the mild, onion-flavoured leaves, simply snip with scissors just above the base whenever required. Remove any faded leaves at the same time. Harvest in the morning if possible, when the leaves are lush and juicy. In hot weather, put the leaves straight into water to keep them from wilting. The more often you harvest, the more new leaves they will produce. Use chives raw, as they lose their flavour if cooked. Simply chop the leaves finely and scatter over all kinds of cold or cooked dishes, from salads, potato salads and cream cheese to omelettes, soups and pastas.
You can also harvest the edible flowers, which appear in late spring and summer. Pick newly opened flower heads and scatter the tiny individual flowers into salads and other dishes, for extra colour and a mild onion flavour.
Problems
Chives are usually healthy and robust plants that crop well for many years, although do look out for aphids and leek rust – see Common problems below.
Get involved
The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.