Last updated on September 26th, 2022 at 11:28 am
Chives can thrive on open soil throughout the year. Therefore, chives do not need a lot of attention to grow. But it is of great importance to know all about your plant and how to tackle specific issues when they arise.
As you read on, you will find answers to all your questions about Chives’ growth and life cycle.
To begin, Are Chives a perennial? Chives are indeed perennials and with herbal benefits. They can accommodate the cold; they can regenerate themselves, which means they will grow back even with zero effort from you. As perennials, chives only need attention for the first half of the season, and they are good to go.
Are Chives Perennial Or Annual?
Chives require a one-time planting, and the following season, you should expect to see them already producing beautiful flowers with a refreshing fragrance.
This feature only goes to show that chives are perennial. Chives are perennials that are cold-friendly, drought-resistant, and easy to grow.
As perennials, growing chives from the beginning as seeds mean taking up to a year to produce. Sometimes, harvesting might be impossible within that period as they might not have been appropriately produced.
They are also prone to death during the winter, but they record a massive growth in springtime.
In seasons where the frost becomes overwhelming, chives will look malnourished or dead, but not to worry, chive bulbs like onions will be under the soil, not growing or dead either.
Then, when the weather becomes warmer, the plant will grow back.
Do Chives Come Back Every Year?
Chives being perennials come back year after year. So replanting them is not even necessary as they have the potential to grow back on their own, and this goes to say that chives are invasive plants, so you might want to exercise caution in introducing this plant to your garden.
Chives grow well when planted in pots, but cultivation is carried out directly on the ground for best results. Chives are capable of surviving for several years, four precisely.
Its ability to reproduce every year is also a part of its life cycle, from germination usually taking place in March to the transplanting into pots after 2-3 weeks and harvesting, which takes place after two months, then regrowth when conditions become suitable.
Thus, when repeated consecutively, this process explains and supports the idea of chives reproducing every year.
How Do You Keep Chives Over Winter?
Chives are kept in several considerable ways during winter. First, in cold regions with a reasonable amount of frost, chives are preserved or kept by digging up a lump, keeping them in a pot, and then taking them under cover indoors in a cold greenhouse.
Without proper care and attention, you cannot guarantee the survival of Chives, but with good tips, here it can.
When these tips are adopted, it prolongs their life span hence enabling them to last longer than they would ordinarily when exposed to the intense cold outside during the winter period.
Below are a few ways to keep chives over winter.
1. There is a possibility of your plants dying during the winter, at this time, to keep your plant growing, remove dead or diseased parts.
2. Regular watering will assist in preserving your chives over the winter.
3. Pinch or cut back your chives as this will trigger new growths in the winter.
4. Potting your chives will make it easier to move your chives when it gets too cold.
5. If you have your chives already planted in pots, place them inside and facing the south window. Then, as the temperature gets warmer, you can take them back to their original places.
6. Chives do well with overwatering, so for the period the climate stalls Chives’ growth, it needs all the water it can get.
7. Desist from fertilizing your chives in winter. The outcome of this may be fresh sprouts or leaves that will not live to feel summer.
8. Mulching is reliable but, apply caution.
9. Do away with dead leaves frequently.
10. In this period, your plant needs all the sun it can get. So while your chives are indoors, let them receive all that love from the sun.
Will Flowering Affect My Chives?
Flowering does not have a lot of effect on your chives so, you can allow its flowers to blossom. Its only significant effect is in its output at harvest.
You might not get big harvests as you expected, and that is one of the downsides of allowing your chives to flower a lot.
This effect raises concern because you love to see all that beautiful purple array up in your garden, but you also want to be able to boast of a good harvest.
Well, the good news is, we can troubleshoot this, and of course, I’m going to be letting you in on this secret.
Like I mentioned earlier, trimming your plant will aid in its growth, so here’s how you do it. While the plant is just flowering, trim it down.
Now, don’t go trimming everything; just half of the plant will do. Cut back half and let the remaining stay long. How does this work?
The trimmed part of the plant works to give you a fruitful harvest, and the other gives you beautiful lovely flowers. Yes, it’s that simple.
Also, if you love those flowers, you can cut them, have them planted and watch them grow as they do not give you any product, just lovely flowers.
Conclusion
It is natural to grow what’s best for you and when it is beautiful, you want to extend all your love to your plant. I’m sure you can now address your concerns about your plant.
So read through carefully and put into practice all the information you just acquired, and you’re good to go.