Container Chives Help Please

[Anne Lee]

I am coordinating a family fitness event that will be held on Martin Luther King day. One of the stations will be for kids to plant chives (to encourage home cooking which is another station entirely).

In looking around the internet I am not finding the instructions I need so I put together my own. Would those of you who do this sort of thing regularly review the instructions?

The goal is to be a simple as possible.

1. Plant chive seeds about a ½ inch below the soil surface.
2. Put the container in a warm sunny window. The plants can also use the light from a light bulb if it's close enough.
3. Water gently 2 -3 times a week. Don't let the soil get dried out but don't keep it soggy either.
4. When plants start to grow, transplant to a deeper pot 6” deep. Fertilize.
5. You can harvest your chives in about three months when they are about 6 inches tall.

[iris lily]

#4 may lose some people. Transplant? How? How many in a pot and how far apart?

Fertilize with what, exactly? While I think that leaving it general is fine since any general fertilizer will work, some people are very worried about using the right kind of fertilizer.

#5--what does the harvest look like? How will thye know to cut the stems into small chopped pieces? (if that's what they should do.) They leave the flower heads, right? You might describe this plant as a lollipop and the "pop" part isn't eaten but the stem IS.

[Anne Lee]

This is good.


When plants start to grow, move to a deeper pot 6” deep.
They will be getting four seeds and I don't know that all of them will germinate. Maybe I should say two per pot? I don't know... I've never raised chives before.

Fertilize using liquid fertilizer at one half the strength recommended on the label. Do this every 4—6 weeks.
This is according to the University of Minnesota extension.

When your plants are about six inches tall (in about 3 months) tall you can harvest a few stalks by cutting them off at the base. Chop into pieces, rinse, and freeze what you don’t use right away.
This is where I'm finding conflicting information. Some sites say to harvest at the base of the plant, others to leave about 2.5 inches so it grows back. Do they harvest before the flowers form? If the flowers form, do they let it go?

[Miss Cellane]

Are you giving the kids the container or will they have to find their own as well as the soil to plant the seeds in? If you are not supplying the soil and container, then you need to tell them what kind/size container and what type of soil to get.

[herbgeek]

Chives are itty bitty, so I would not thin them when transplanting if they are only getting 4 seeds to start with. I wouldn't even bury them 1/2" deep, I'd just push them into the soil so they are covered. When I harvest chives I usually leave an inch or so at the base.

[Anne Lee]

Are you giving the kids the container or will they have to find their own as well as the soil to plant the seeds in? If you are not supplying the soil and container, then you need to tell them what kind/size container and what type of soil to get.

The kids will get the container and the soil to start the seeds.

[Anne Lee]

Excellent input.

I decided to omit the instructions about planting because they will have planted them at the event. The new instructions are:

1. Put the container in a warm sunny window. You can use light bulbs to help provide light.

2. Water gently 2 -3 times a week. Don't let the soil get dried out but don't keep it soggy either.

3. When your plants are about 2 inches tall, you will need to move them to a deeper pot. Pick a pot that is at least 6” deep with a small hole in the bottom. Cover the bottom of the pot with pebbles then add potting soil. Dig a little hole and gently place your plants and the soil they are in into the hole. Add a little more soil to fill in the hole. Don't cover up the green growing part but do cover up the roots.

4. Fertilize using liquid fertilizer at one half the strength recommended on the label. Do this every 4—6 weeks.

5. When your plants are about six inches tall (in about 3 months) tall you can cut them off about one inch from the soil. Rinse and chop into little pieces. What you don’t use you can freeze.

[Lainey]

And for people who don't cook, can you add something like "chives are good in scrambled eggs, or ...."

[Selah]

...on baked potatoes over a generous dollop of sour cream!" :)

[Amaranth]

Does the first pot have it's own built in saucer? If not it would help to suggest what could be used to protect the window sill.

Chives also good:
on egg salad sandwiches
sprinkled on tomato soup
in salads
can separate the purple flowers into parts and put on salad

possibly have a link to a web page where you compile additional recipes and suggestions

[daisy]

After reading all the posts, I'm unclear if the participants will be planting the seeds or not. Regardless, I think you might want to plant more than 4 seeds. Chives are perennials and form clumps over time, but they do not spread rapidly. If all 4 seeds germinate and you harvest after 3 months, each person will have about a tablespoon of chopped chives at the end. That has been my experience, at least.

[CropCircleDancer]

Chives are difficult to start from seed, and just so easy to transplant from clumps. Why don't you transplant, or plant something easier, like basil?

[Anne Lee]

We have to provide dirt and seeds for 300 kids. Transplanting is not an option.

I was told basil was hard to grow too and that chives were easier. I've already ordered the chive seeds.