Garlic chives also known as Chinese leek or Chinese chives has flat, grass-green leaves with attractive, little, white flowers. It has a garlic-like flavour but it tastes much milder than normal garlic cloves. It can be used in salads, Chinese dishes with rice or noodles and for stir-frying. Can be frozen. Hardy perennial. The leaves die of in winter, but regrow in early spring.
Indoor sowing: march - april
Outdoor sowing: may - september
Germination: 10 - 14 days
Germinationtemp.: 18 - 20°C
Sowing depth: 4 - 6 mm
Plant spacing: 45 cm
Planting position: Warm and sunny
Days till harvest: 120 - 130
Sow indoors from the beginning of march. Sow in seperate pots or seedtrays filled with moist potting soil. Sow the seeds shallow and sparsely and divide the seeds. Don't sow the seeds to close together. Cover the seeds with a very thin layer of soil. Keep moist and warm. The seeds germinate in 2 - 3 weeks. Put the pots or trays with seeds approx. 1 month outdoors with shelter against wind and rain, when the seeds don't germinate in a couple of weeks. The cold will help with the germination. Take the pots or trays indoors after 1 month to germinate. Put the seedlings outdoors on a sunny plot with some shelter against the wind from the first of may.
Sow outdoors from the beginning of may. Sow shallow and press the seeds gently in the soil. Don't sow the seeds very close together. Cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil. The seeds should germinate after approx. 2 - 3 weeks. Thin the seedlings when they're approx. 5 cm in size. Thin to 45 cm apart. Cut the leaves regurlarly to prevent the growing of new and fresh leaves. Remove the flowerstems to encourage new growth. The leaves of this hardy perennial die of in winter. The new leaves start to grow again in the early spring. Harvest the leaves when they're approx. 15 cm in size. Garlic chives can also be grown in large pots.
