Do you cut baby chives?

[cythaenopsis]

In the spring, I'd gotten a small bag of chive seeds from a gardener friend. I've got a good hefty crop of chives already going, but I wanted to try growing them from seeds for the first time to see what it's like.

The sprouts took a while to come up, but they did and they're doing pretty well. I've read it takes about 18-24 months before chive seedlings mature. So... that has me wondering about something.

The chive seedlings are growing REALLY long. They flop over and get tangled up with one another, because of the breeze through the window. Should I clip them back a little, so that the leaves can stand tall more easily?

[Riceloft]

Originally Posted by cythaenopsis

In the spring, I'd gotten a small bag of chive seeds from a gardener friend. I've got a good hefty crop of chives already going, but I wanted to try growing them from seeds for the first time to see what it's like.

The sprouts took a while to come up, but they did and they're doing pretty well. I've read it takes about 18-24 months before chive seedlings mature. So... that has me wondering about something.

The chive seedlings are growing REALLY long. They flop over and get tangled up with one another, because of the breeze through the window. Should I clip them back a little, so that the leaves can stand tall more easily?

I cut my chives back several times per season. I think the fresh growth (ie thinner shoots) taste better than the "mature" thick ones.

[Gavriil]

We Have a small patch of that nasty stuff , My wife cuts it about 1 in. from the ground when it gets about 10-12 inches tall, She'll cut this batch Monday.
uses it in soups & stuff but mostly for making Korean pancakes.
If you have it in the garden don't let flower and go seedy unless you cut them quick enough or you'll have the stuff all over your garden.

[Doug9345]

I grow chives partly because I love the pretty purple flowers. I've cut them the first year. I've got to move mine as where they are growing is purely accidental. I had the pack of seed laying open on a contain I was going to plant and the wind blew it away. I have chives where the wind happened to dump the the seed.

[ddsack]

Cut them as short as you want, they will come back from the bulblets they have formed by now. You don't need to baby chives, they are there forever once they get a toehold.

[cythaenopsis]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I definitely cut back the leaves of my mature chives. I was just wondering if it's OK to do with chives in their "baby" state, meaning thin and newly sprouted. My fear was that if I cut too early, that it may end up killing them. They've gotten so long that they fall over and get tangled up among each other. It sounds like it should be OK to trim them a bit.

[cythaenopsis]

Originally Posted by Gavriil

We Have a small patch of that nasty stuff , My wife cuts it about 1 in. from the ground when it gets about 10-12 inches tall, She'll cut this batch Monday--she uses it in soups & stuff but mostly for making Korean pancakes.
If you have it in the garden don't let flower and go seedy unless you cut them quick enough or you'll have the stuff all over your garden.

Nasty? I love 'em! You get an onion flavor without the lingering aftertaste. They are a kind of weed, super resilient and hearty, but thankfully edible. And nutritious.

[Gavriil]

Originally Posted by cythaenopsis

Nasty? I love 'em! You get an onion flavor without the lingering aftertaste. They are a kind of weed, super resilient and hearty, but thankfully edible. And nutritious.

I was semi joking, it's just they have a tendency to come up everywhere like mint (that's another one I dislike). If you let them seed and and not cut the flowers in time. I have them coming up up a few places along the fence line that I have to weed eat down. Also the First garden we had at another place before I knew what they would do they were spreading everywhere. My wife likes them but to me they have very little taste
I'm a strong flavor guy Strong coffee, Extra sharp cheddar cheese, a lot of salt, a umm a robust onion etc.
but I will eat them in a Korean pancake when I starving.

[cythaenopsis]

^ Ha, gotcha Gavriil.

I'm growing them in containers, so the issue of seeds isn't so much a big deal. But I can see what you mean if you've got a small plot with them growing in the ground... they could proliferate before you know it.

They do indeed have a subtle flavor. But if you slather them onto whatever you're eating, believe me--you'll taste the onion-like flavor. And besides, they are packed with nutrients so the more you eat the better. Just three grams contains 3% DV of Vitamin A, C, in addition to a number of other trace elements like calcium and iron. There's supposed to be some anti-inflammatory properties as well as anti-oxidants. I suppose you need to eat quite a lot of them to get a decent jolt of that in one day. But whereas nutritional advice labels all focus on the Daily Value, there is something to be said for long term ingestion of certain nutrients in small amounts (not captured in those labels).

[cythaenopsis]

I did trim back the longest leaves and the sprouts have responded pretty well. The leaves are thickening and standing up straight. Looks like they may mature a little faster than I expected. Taste is excellent. A little "sweeter" than the mature chives.