Chive is a perennial plant that can be grown for food, and you can - to decorate the garden. It contains vitamin C, carbohydrates, carotene, proteins, sugars, phytoncides. This is a valuable dietary product used as an antihelminthic and atherosclerotic agent.
People call it onion-skoroda (born soon) and chives (the feather is cut off). During the flowering period, the plant is very decorative, as it has beautiful red-violet inflorescences and dense foliage. Chives have thin feathery leaves and small bulbs. It tastes much more tender than other varieties of onions.
For planting this wonderful plant, it is advisable to choose a site with fertile loose soil. It is undesirable to plant it next to beans, peas, cabbage. Places with sandy soil that does not retain moisture are not suitable for him, he does not tolerate drought. Chives need regular watering throughout the growing season.
Seeds can be sown before winter, in February for seedlings or in May directly into the ground. It is preferable to sow fresh seeds, the germination of old seeds is not guaranteed. Seeding depth 1.0-1.5 cm. Seeds are placed in holes, each 10-15 pieces. The distance between adjacent holes in a row is 25 cm, between rows 30 cm. Seedlingsit is advisable to plant or thin out, as the onion grows well, and growth worsens in cramped conditions.
When grown from seeds in the first year, a small bush is formed, only 3-4 shoots. The next year it will grow stronger, there will be about 20 shoots. Chives can be grown in one place for 4-5 years. In the future, it must be divided and planted in another place.
In old curtains, the feather becomes smaller, grows worse and quickly fades. The division is preferably carried out in the spring, at the beginning of the growth of leaves, or in the fall. If you divide in the fall, then the feathers must be cut, leaving 6-7 cm. In each division, it is desirable to leave about 10 processes with bulbous thickenings and roots.
It is better to eat young feathers that have reached a length of 20 cm. When feathers grow more than 25 cm, they become somewhat stiffer. In place of the cut ones, new ones grow in about 10 days. Chives are famous for the speed of building green mass. Growing it in the beds in the spring and summer and in pots on the windowsill in the winter, you can eat fresh he althy herbs all year round.
If onions are grown on a feather, then the emerging inflorescences must be removed. In a flowering plant, feathers are not suitable for eating, they are too hard. To constantly have green onions for food, you need to regularly cut off some of the feathers.
If you need to get seeds, then inflorescences can be left on some plants. When the testicles turn brown (this happens in June-July), they need to be cut off, dried forpaper, thresh and air.
Before the frosts, it is better to cut off all onion feathers. In this case, in the spring it will begin to grow faster.
Growing this crop, we must not forget about weeding, loosening, regular watering and top dressing.
Can be grown as an ornamental chives. The photo well demonstrates its attractiveness for landscape design. It is especially beautiful during flowering. Pairs well with low plants such as daisies, primroses, pansies, etc. Chives borders are interesting considering they can be trimmed.
