How to Grow Chives Indoors

Overview

Chives are wonderful for flavoring a variety of dishes, like baked potatoes, soups, salads, bagels and cream cheese, Latin and Asian foods, or anything that you would put onions in. Not at all fussy about their living conditions, chives are among the easiest of all plants to grow and maintain, even indoors. If you grow them inside during the winter, they can be transplanted in the garden as soon as you can work the soil in spring. But many people grow them indoors and enjoy the attractive clumps of grass-like leaves as potted plants, harvesting the tasty herbs all year. Once established, your chives will continue to produce for years to come.

Step 1

Fill the pot with soil to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the top. Sprinkle the tiny black chive seeds onto the surface of the soil, and press them lightly into it. It's best to start this in March.

Step 2

Water very gently so that you don't dislodge the seeds, and keep them uniformly moist until they've sprouted.

Step 3

Set the pot in the brightest area of your home, but out of direct sunlight. The thin, grass-like seedlings will emerge in about 7-10 days.

Step 4

Water the seedlings lightly when the soil begins to dry out. When they mature, feed your chives with an all-purpose liquid or fertilizer spikes every 4-6 weeks throughout the growing season.

Step 5

Remove the purple flower heads when they begin to emerge late in the spring and in June or July if you are growing the chives strictly for eating. Blooming reduces the growth of new leaves. Use the blooms in salads or as garnishes, if you like.

Step 6

Use scissors to harvest mature chives whenever you want them, beginning in July or when they grow to about 6 inches tall. This promotes tender new growth. Start by cutting the outermost leaves and work your way inward. Trim off as little or as much as you wish, as long as you leave about 2 inches standing.