Chives are one of the easiest crops to care for in vegetable patches and balcony boxes. Regular watering and some fertilizer are enough for it to grow luxuriantly. The harvest time is in the summer and you have to cut the chives every two weeks. Even when it blooms. We explain how to do this, what needs to be taken into account and which parts of the plant are edible.
Cutting chives: care tips
The flowering period of chives begins at the beginning of May. Its purple flowers open around mid-May and adorn the plant until autumn when the weather is good. They provide food for pollinating insects such as bumblebees and wild bees and are also regularly visited by butterflies. Although the flowers are edible, they should be removed quickly. Otherwise the stalks become harder, lose their typical aroma and have a bitter taste. You therefore have two options:
Option 1: Remove the flowers before they open
Cut off the flower buds before they can open. In this way you promote the growth of the stalks. The chives sprout at full strength and you can then harvest the new stalks with a mild, spicy taste. This also allows you to extend the harvest time.
If you decide on this option, you first have to wait until the stalks are long enough. Normally the tubular leaves reach the required minimum length of 12 cm about a month after planting. The right time is crucial for the taste: it is best to harvest the stalks on a sunny and dry morning.
Carefully cut off all flower buds. Then shorten the stems to 2/3. If some shoots are currently splitting, cut them off about 1 cm above the fork.
Variant 2: Cut chives when they bloom
Have you missed the right time and the chive flower buds have opened? There's no need to panic, because the flowers are edible and you can continue to harvest the plant during the flowering period.
Proceed as follows: Cut off the flowers and their stems close to the ground. Leave about 3 cm of the stalks so that the chives can sprout again.
Can you eat the flowers?
The chives are also edible during the flowering period. The flowers are edible, as are all the blades of grass. However, the flower stalks are an exception - although they are not poisonous, they have a slightly bitter taste and are difficult to eat.
The outer petals are not spicy and have a mild taste with a sweet note. The inner petals, on the other hand, are very sharp and exude the typical chive aroma.
You can use the flowers to flavor salads and cold soups. Or you can dry them and use them later. In this case, you need to cut off the flower with the stem and then let it dry. Only after the flowers are completely dry can you remove the stem. The flowers can be used to prepare dishes or salads.
How to cut chives after they bloom so they grow back!
Every now and then the chives also need a strong pruning. All shoots, regardless of whether they are flowering or not, are cut back to 2 cm. You can repeat this process once in spring and once in summer to encourage the plant's growth.
Incidentally, the potted plant tolerates regular cuts much more poorly than outdoor plants. This causes her to become stressed and needs more time to recover. That's why it's recommended to harvest the ornamental onion in the balcony box or flower pot a maximum of 3 times and then plant it out in the garden.
By the way, the last cut takes place in the fall, after theFlowering period overhas come. The plant is then cut back heavily and its resting phase begins immediately afterwards. During this period, growth stops and the chives can recover in the winter months and then sprout again vigorously in spring.
