Tell me how to collect Garli Chive seeds ?

[janetnjim]

I have a garlic chive plant that i love and have protected for over 4 years now because i jist cannot find another one anywhere.
Anywho, it has finaly matured and flowered and i NEEED to collect it's seeds so i can plant more. Does anyone know how to go about this ? And is there any special care i need to give the seeds prior to planting ?

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

As it flowers let the seed pods dry on the plant completely, sometimes it helps to cut a piece of cheese cloth (or something similar) and rubber band it around the plant just because the pods sometimes crack and break open.

After they are completely dry, cut the seed pod off the plant and take all the seeds out. I then let them dry in a dark, warm, dry place. The seeds are very brittle so be careful.

The plant is very attractive when flowering, IMO.

Good luck!

 

[Tutter]

I love my garlic chives, no wonder you want to have more growing!

I, also, make little bags to cover the seed head. I make mine out of floating row cover, and tie with thin yarn.

I've already got mine cut, because I use it for pollination, so they are handy. (Say I have a squash who's female flower will open the next morning. I bag it. Then when I can get out there the next morning, I can pollinate it with the correct pollen, then re-bag it.)

Good luck! :happy_flower

(And if you do ever decide to buy more, I'm not sure who all has them, but you can definitely get seeds from, Bountiful Gardens.)

 

[hoodat]

Kept in a cool dry place garlic chive seeds can be stored for several years. I used paper bags to store them so they would continue to dry. This avoids molding. They sprout in only a few days. If you want plants faster garlic chives clump so you can dig the clump and split it up.

 

[digitS']

Garlic chives won't survive our winters.

Seed will sprout and grow but 90% die each winter. Never a harvest ...

Regular chives are a little invasive but, apparently, not like they are in some parts of the country.

Steve

 

[hoodat]

Garlic chives won't survive our winters.

Seed will sprout and grow but 90% die each winter. Never a harvest ...

Regular chives are a little invasive but, apparently, not like they are in some parts of the country.

Steve

In many parts of the country regular chives thrive in lawns. You can smell them when you mow.
We had a patch of ramps near me in Oklahoma. Those babies will make your eyes cross.

 

[flowerbug]

Garlic chives won't survive our winters.

Seed will sprout and grow but 90% die each winter. Never a harvest ...

Regular chives are a little invasive but, apparently, not like they are in some parts of the country.

Steve

hmm, they survive ours and we get some pretty cold temperatures here... do you mulch them at all in the fall? i don't think that really matters as i'm sure ours are not down all that deep and probably freeze solid... hmm... perhaps they dry out too much? just kickin' ideas around here... i only have them planted in one location (i don't use them for cooking yet) and i'm pretty sure they've been there about 10yrs. fairly sandy loam topsoil (one of the areas on this lot that has it imported).

 

[Zeedman]

Garlic chives has been reliably hardy here as well. Mine is a semi-wild version, named as just the species, A. tuberosum. I was able to observe both it & a named Garlic Chive side-by-side at Heritage Farm... the generic version was blooming much more heavily. Although it is planted with my other perennial onions, I only grow it for the flowers, which butterflies love. It is just beginning to bloom now, I hope to post a photo in the near future.

@digitS' I wonder... would you have better luck with live plants? Maybe mature plants would survive conditions too harsh for the seedlings.

 

[digitS']

@digitS' I wonder... would you have better luck with live plants? Maybe mature plants would survive conditions too harsh for the seedlings.

That's may well be the problem.

One season of growth and the seedlings are still tiny. I would have to be very, very careful with mulch if that would help.

I may also have made an invalid assumption. Since regular chives thrive in the shadiest location in the entire backyard, the garlic chive seed was also sown in a shady location.

Steve

 

[hoodat]

In my experience garlic chives thrive in either full sun or open shade. They aren't fussy about PH and, after the first year, are drought tolerant. When soil is too dry for growth they have the ability to die at the tops but come back from the bulbs when water becomes available again. In Southern California they are green year round as long as water is available.