Growing chives on your windowsill can be quite decorative. While a pot-grown chive won’t provide your family with a lot of chives, it’s still worth growing chives from seeds on your windowsill.
Two years ago in Austria, I tried chives for the first time—a variety that is ridiculously expensive here. So, I decided to sow chive seeds in a pot.
How to Grow Chives from Seeds
- The soil should be light and fertile; it should be regularly loosened and fertilized with a complete fertilizer every two weeks.
- Chive seeds germinate well. Do not bury them; just scatter them on the soil surface.
- Mist the seeds with a sprayer, cover with a thin layer of soil, and mist again.
- Cover with plastic until the first sprouts appear, ventilate regularly. Do not water until the greenery emerges. Avoid direct sunlight on the pot.
- Since the root system of this chive variety is branching and long, use a deep pot. The seedlings take time to strengthen, so they need to be shaded and the soil should be kept slightly moist at all times.
- Choose the most shaded windowsill for your chives.
Chives are perennials. I recommend harvesting the crop in the second year, while the plant will still delight you with its lavender-colored ball-shaped flowers.
It’s said that the chive leaves regrow much faster than any other type of onion—within a week after cutting, the shoots are again about 20 cm long. Fertilize with a complete fertilizer every two weeks.
To prevent the leaves from becoming tough, remove the flower buds. Read more about how chives differ from other types of leafy onions in the article Chives: Properties and Benefits .
