Chives
Allium schoenoprasum
Amaryllidaceae · onion family
- Matures
- 30–60 days
- Harvest
- Continuous · Perennial
- Sun
- 4–8+ hrs
- Spacing
- 6–12 in
Planting window
When to sow, by microclimate — foggier blocks run a different calendar than sunnier ones.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foggy | ◐ | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Sunny | ◐ | ● | ● | ● | ● | ◐ |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foggy | ● | ● | ● | ● | ◐ | ◐ |
| Sunny | ◐ | ◐ | ● | ● | ◐ | ◐ |
Well-suitedMarginalNot suited
Sunlight
How well it does at each level of direct sun per day.
<2 hrsNot suited
2–4 hrsMarginal
4–6 hrsWell-suited
6–8 hrsWell-suited
8+ hrsWell-suited
Well-suitedMarginalNot suited
Soil depth
Root room it needs — useful for sizing raised beds and containers.
6–10"Well-suited
10–15"Well-suited
15–18"Well-suited
18–24"Well-suited
Well-suitedMarginalNot suited
Spacing
Room each plant needs — along the row and between rows — for sizing beds.
- In-row
- 6–12 in
- Between rows
- 6–12 in
Growth habit
The shape it makes in the bed and how tall it gets — what tells you whether to give it a trellis, a stake, or just room.
- Habit
- Low mound
- Mature height
- 8–10 in
Low and self-supporting — no staking needed.
How to start it
Sow it where it grows, or raise it under cover and set it out — and how far ahead to start the seedlings if it's the latter.
- Usually
- Transplant
Direct-sowWell-suited
TransplantWell-suited
Goes in as a rooted start, cutting, or division rather than raised from seed.
Well-suitedMarginalNot suited
Getting started
How it goes in the ground — how deep to sow or set it, and the soil temperature it needs to wake up. The cold-soil floor is the real limiter for direct-sowing in a foggy SF spring.
- Started from
- From seed
- Ideal soil temp
- 50°F
- Sow depth
- 0.25 in
- Time to emerge
- 7–14 days
Germinates between 50–60°F; happiest around 50°F.
30°F110°F
IdealWorkable
Pests & diseases
What tends to trouble this crop — what it is, what you'll see, and what to do about it, least-toxic first.
Pests2
Thrips
- What it is
- Most adult thrips are elongate, slender, minute (less than 1/20 inch long), and have long fringes on the margins of both pairs of their long, narrow wings. Immatures (called larvae or nymphs) are oblong or slender and elongate and lack wings.
- What you'll see
- Thrips feeding on plants can damage fruit, leaves, and shoots and very noticeably affect plants’ cosmetic appearance. However, thrips rarely kill or threaten the survival of trees and shrubs.
- What to do
- Thrips species that feed on many different plant species often move into gardens and landscapes when plants in weedy areas or grasslands begin to dry in spring or summer. Avoid planting susceptible plants next to these areas, and control nearby weeds that are alternate hosts of pest thrips.
Root Maggot
- What you'll see
- White worm that feeds on seedlings, roots or bulbs.
- What to do
- Apply appropriate insecticides at planting if pest occurred in the past.
Diseases2
Pink Root
- What you'll see
- Fungal disease that changes roots to a pink color. Roots eventually die and yields are severely reduced
- What to do
- Use long crop rotation and solarize the soil where onions are planted.
Downey Mildew
- What you'll see
- Fungal disease that turns leaves a light tan to brown color. Furry growth, grayish violet in color, may be visible on the surface of infected leaves during moist periods.
- What to do
- Cultural practices that facilitate air movement and drying of leaves will reduce disease severity. Registered fungicides may be used.
Sources
Every figure above is backed by these.
- UC Master Gardeners, Santa Clara County (Containers)backs soilDepth · soil-depth-by-crop.json shallow-rooted (6-9 in) row explicitly lists 'chives' alongside lettuces, green onions, radishes, spinach -> every soil-depth band = yes.
- UC Master Gardeners, Santa Clara Countybacks plantingWindow, sunlight, inRowSpacing, lifecycle, harvestStyle · UC MG Santa Clara Chives page: 'Type: Perennial, evergreen'; Light 'Best in full sun, tolerates afternoon shade' (sunlight); 'Space 8 to 12 inches apart' (spacing). Planting is stated frost-relative only ('Start seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the last frost date. Direct sow in full sun after the last frost date') with no calendar months and no foggy/sunny split; SF is effectively frost-free (Sunset 17), so the month map is an SF extrapolation of that frost-relative statement for a hardy evergreen perennial, and foggy/sunny are identical. 'Propagate by division every two to four years.' Habit and harvest: perennial, continuous — the page states 'Type: Perennial, evergreen'; leaves are cut repeatedly through the season.
- Utah State University Extensionbacks daysToMaturity, sunlight, inRowSpacing, plantingDepth, growthHabit · USU 'Chives in the Garden' (agronomy only, timing not used): 'Chives may be harvested as early as 60 days after seeding or 30 days after transplanting' (daysToMaturity 30-60, division vs seed floors); 'should be spaced 4-6 inches apart' (spacing low end); 'cool-season, cold-tolerant perennials that prefer full sun' (sunlight). Planting depth 1/4 in: 'Seeds should be planted 1/4 inch deep.' Growth habit: 'Over time, chives will form a clump that is 8-10 inches tall and may spread nearly one foot across' (8-10 in, wider than tall — a low grassy clump, so low-mound).
- University of Minnesota Extensionbacks sunlight, inRowSpacing, rowSpacing, startMethod · Growing chives: 'six to eight hours of direct light is best' but they 'tolerate light shade' (sunlight); 'Space plants 6 to 12 inches apart' (spacing consensus 6-12). Land-grant extension, agronomy only. Between-row spacing is taken equal to the in-row figure: this crop is spaced about equally in all directions and the source gives a single spacing, not a distinct row width. Start method: UMN Extension 'Growing chives': 'The easiest and most successful way of growing chives is planting rooted clumps in spring after frost danger has passed.' and 'You can also start chives from seed.' Goes in as a rooted division rather than being raised under cover from seed, so no seed-to-transplant lead time applies.
- UNH Extensionbacks germination · UNH Extension garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) as an Allium proxy: soil 50°F, germination 7–14 days. Common chives (A. schoenoprasum) germinate near-identically.
- USDA GRIN Taxonomybacks botany