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How to grow Chives in the UK

A mild oniony herb that comes back every year.

• DifficultyEasy peasy
• WhereBeds or Pots
• Grows to30cm
• Spacing20cm
• Time to first pickabout 10 weeks
• Typeperennial

When to sow, plant and harvest chives

Dates are for central England. Sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland, and up to two weeks earlier in the south and south west. Get the dates for your postcode.

Starting it indoors

1. Fill a small pot or tray with seed compost
2. Push the seeds in (1cm deep) - a couple per pot
3. Water gently, then put them on a bright windowsill
4. Keep the compost damp but not soggy - check it every day
5. When they have 2 proper leaves, give each seedling its own pot

Sowing it outdoors

1. Pull out any weeds and rake the top of your bed until it's crumbly, like cake crumbs
2. Make a little line in the soil (1cm deep) with your finger or a stick
3. Drop the seeds in, about 20cm apart each way
4. Gently cover them with soil and pat it down
5. Water with a watering can that has a sprinkler head
6. Push in a label so you remember what's there

Planting it out

1. Toughen them up ('hardening off'): put them outside in the day for a week, bring them in at night
2. Dig a hole a bit bigger than the pot
3. Tip the plant out gently, holding the leaves, not the stem
4. Pop it in the hole, firm the soil around it, and water well
5. Space the plants about 20cm apart each way

Top tips for growing chives

• The purple flowers are edible too.

Soil and feeding

Poor, free-draining soil - they don't like it too rich. Most herbs like it quite poor and sunny. Too much food makes them floppy and less tasty.

Harvesting and eating chives

Snip with scissors about 3cm from the bottom. They grow back.

How to eat them: Snip over mashed potato or into cream cheese.

Storing chives

Keeps about 1 week.

• Stand in a glass of water, or keep in a bag in the fridge

Snip into an ice-cube tray, top up with water and freeze. Pop a cube into cooking.

Good varieties of chives

• Common chives: Mild onion taste, purple flowers.
• Garlic chives: Flat leaves that taste of garlic, white flowers.

Companion planting

Grows well with

• Carrots: the chive smell hides carrots from carrot fly
• Strawberries: chive flowers bring bees to pollinate the berries
• Big tomatoes: chives may help keep greenfly away
• Cherry tomatoes: chives may help keep greenfly away

Keep away from

• Peas: the onion family can stunt peas
• French beans: the onion family can stunt beans
• Runner beans: the onion family can stunt beans

Saving your own chives seed

Autumn or early spring.

1. Dig up a big clump
2. Pull or cut it into two or three pieces, each with roots and shoots
3. Replant them - more plants for free, and the old one grows better too

Where to buy chives seeds

Thompson & Morgan · Suttons · Amazon

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Chives questions

When should I sow chives in the UK?

In the UK, sow chives indoors from mid March to mid May or outdoors from mid April to mid June. These dates suit central England; sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland and up to two weeks earlier in the mild south and south west.

When do I plant out chives?

Plant chives out from early May to late June.

When can I pick chives?

Chives is ready from mid May to mid October. Snip with scissors about 3cm from the bottom. They grow back.

How long do chives take to grow?

Roughly 10 weeks from sowing or planting until the first harvest.

Are chives easy to grow?

Chives are rated 'easy peasy' for beginners, and can be grown in the ground or a raised bed or in pots and containers.