Kitchen Garden Forum

My Chives have somehow lost their vigour and need replacing. A friend had some very sturdy plants that had gone to seed so I took some seeding heads on Thursday morning. I threshed and cleaned up the seed in the afternoon and at about midnight I decided to test their viability and sowed a pinch of seed into a 9cm pot and then scored the top across and then down and lightly tamped it and as the compost was already moist I decided not to actually water them. It is now 26 hours since I did that and to my surprise have just noticed these regimented lines of seeds almost a quarter of an inch high. I suspect that they are not planted deep enough so I have just very carefully put a layer of damp vermiculite (seeding grade) over the top.
This means that the seeds have germinated in less than 24 hours so I suspect that they a viable!
JB.

You must have become one who gardens according to the moon and got the phase just right for chives!

Hi JB

All of us of a certain age remember that



was very good with

I usually find, digging up the clump and splitting into small clumps and replanting reinvigorates them

Hi NB,
This has been done many times over the years but somehow the strain seem to have lost its vigour. Time to start afresh.
I make a fair amount of potato salad every year and from about 20 clumps I sometimes struggle to find enough chives to cut.
Hi Glallotments,
The seed has come from a garden where the chives have never been cut and the person never grows anything for himself. I suppose nature could sow by the moon but I would rather put it down to total neglect.
JB.