Chives are bulbous perennial herbs that belong to the garlic family. They are grown for edible leaves, possess a solid onion or garlic scent, and aromatic blue, pink flowers. Occasionally, in the gardens (indoors and outdoors), you may experience your chives becoming limp and droopy. In this post, you will discover all the reasons that can make your chives limp, drooping and not stand up, and find solutions on making your chives firm and stand up.
The first section of this post will cover the possible factors that make your chives drooping or limp, and some scientifically proven solutions. In the second section, we look at some additional tips and practices to make your chives grow healthy and vigorously.
The most common and frequent causes that can make chives limp and drooping are:
- Incorrect watering
- High water salinity
- Unfavorable climatic conditions
- Insufficient light
- Bugs and pests
- Over-crowding
- Poor soil
- Low temperatures/dormancy
- Low quality or old seeds
Reason 1: Incorrect Watering
No doubt chives are water-dependent herbs. They require the balance and ample water supply for vigorous growth throughout the growing season. However, ample water supply does not mean excessive water supply. While chives love water, they need good drainage too. Overwatering is one of the top reasons for drooping chives in your garden.
You might be thinking about how over-watering leads to the sluggish growth of the chives. Overwatering can cause the following:
- Overwatering makes the roots of the herb suffocate, thus leading to the limited supply of oxygen and nitrogen in the root zone of the herb. For stiff and vigorous growth, chives roots need to have the ability to exchange gases.
- Excessive watering turns the lush green leaves of the herb yellow, thus reducing the rate of photosynthesis.
- Too much watering makes the soil soggy. Your herb cannot absorb nutrients from the environment that is soggy over-watered soil.
- Root rotting bacteria thrive and grow in over-watered and soggy soils. These bacteria feed on the root of the chives. Once root rotting bacteria infect your herb, it becomes hard to recover chives.
Suffocation of roots, yellowing of leaves, soggy soil, and root rotting bacteria results from overwatering.
How to water the herb in a balanced manner? Unfortunately, there are specific rules or schedules to watering your chives; This depends on many environmental factors such as weather, soil drainage levels, temperature, rainfall and humidity. The good news is that you can regularly check the soil with your finger or toothpick for soil moisture content.
If the soil is moist, avoid watering chives. If the soil is dry, then immediately water the herb. Always aim to water your chives when the soil is starting to get a bit dry. You can also use a simple soil meter like this to help you with watering frequency. Make sure to only use pots that have drainage holes + have a saucer on the bottom of the pot. Avoid waterlogged soil.
How do you know if you are overwatering or underwatering the chives?
Signs that you are overwatering chives:
- Wilting of stems and leaves (drooping and limping)
- Leaves will turn yellow (discoloration), and lower section leaves will start to fall off.
- Slow and stunted growth
- Foliage wilting
- Soft foliage
Signs that you are underwatering chives:
- The outer edges (tips) of the leaves will start to wilt
- Upon touching the soil, it feels dry and brittle
- The number of scapes, or leaves is lower than normal
- Leaves are wilting
- Drooping
- Crispy and light leaves
Always avoid growing chives in a spot that often gets lots of rain and stays soggy for prolonged periods of time. Otherwise, it will cause limp and drooping chives, as well rot of the whole plant. If this is the case, transplant your chives to a different spot. Good drainage and full sun to part shade will help the plant evaporate excess water and improve growth rates. If indoors, don’t forget to place the pot in a sunny spot.
Reason 2: High water salinity
Besides overwatering, high water salinity negatively affects the natural or normal growth of the herb.
What is water salinity? Water salinity is the quantity or amount of salt present in water. The higher the salt content, the higher salinity of the water.
Chives are salt-sensitive crops. This means high salt content (above 1.010dSm-1) results in drooping chives.
For proper growth of chives in pots and outdoor gardens, use fresh tap water. Typically, fresh tap water contains salts below critical levels for chives. One simple and more straightforward way to detect the salinity of the water is the presence of a white crusty layer on the top layer of soil. If white crust forms on the soil surface, it means the water is too salty for the average growth of the herb.
I would recommend using a hydrometer to detect salt content in water. That’s especially if you have tried everything else and just can’t figure out what the issue is. You can also use rainwater to water your chives.
Reason 3: Unfavorable climatic conditions
If you are neither overwatering nor seeing white crusts on the soil due to salinity, but still your chives are drooping, then it means the climatic conditions are unfavorable, making your chives limp and droopy.
Chives are naturally and evolutionarily adapted to growing in cool climates – those include temperate regions of the world. The herb’s ideal temperature for vigorous and stiff growth lies between 40 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4-29 Celsius).
Once again, temperatures that are too high or too low (freezing or frost) makes your chives limp or floppy. At very low temperatures, your chives will become dormant.
In case of unfavorable climatic conditions, bring the outdoor pots of chives indoors. Set them there until the unfavorable climatic conditions are over. Proper airflow is also important. Don’t forget that you need to water your chives more often when temperatures are high, and less when it’s cold.
Reason 4: Lack of light
Chives adore sunlight, and need part shade to full sun to grow properly. They require at least 6 to 8 hours of daily sunlight to grow healthy and stiff (upright). Insufficient sunlight is another cause for the droopy growth of chives.
Before planting your herb in indoor gardens, ensure to select a spot that receives maximum sunlight. Place your chive pots or containers near south-facing walls; these walls receive maximum sunlight during the daytime. However, chives are very adaptable – they can also grow in spots with less light. If growing indoors, avoid north-facing windows. West, south and east facing windows are fine.
If you are still struggling with the target of 6 hours of daily sunlight, you can use artificial lighting. That is a solution for chives growing indoors in low light. For this, you can get a full-spectrum plant light like this and hang it above the pot or container for about 12 to 16 hours a day.
If you grow chives in your garden and you experience very hot summers, make sure to provide some shade. While chives love lots of sun, temperatures of over 90 F (32 C) are too high for them.
Reason 5: Pests, bugs, and diseases
Chives are among those herbs that are rarely attacked by pests. They are generally resistant to many viral and bacterial diseases. However sometimes, plants struggling with physiological ailments and other health-related issues may get affected by pests and diseases. Those include thrips and onion maggots.
Both thrips and onion maggots, among other factors mentioned earlier, can turn your fresh, stiffly growing chives droopy and limp.
Thrips:
Thrips are tiny insects that can be found roaming indoor and outdoor gardens. These insects damage chives by sucking the plant juices, making nutrients unavailable to them. Thrips are very small insects that are generally pale or black in color. Once thrips attack the chives leaves, they cause the surrounding area to dry out.
Thrips usually exists in two forms:
- Larvae stage: Thrips at this stage physically look white or semi-transparent. These larvae feed on the leaves of chives.
- Adult stage: Adult stage thrips are brownish/black, with six legs, and couple pairs of wings with tiny hairs. Once you detect adult stage thrips, you must understand that their colony has been established.
You can get rid of thrips effectively by using a few methods. First of all, you can try to get rid of them by spraying them with a jet of water. This might however not help if a colony is big. To get rid of thrips naturally, you can use organic insecticidal soap like this, which will paralyze and kill them. Other natural and effective treatments include neem oil and horticultural oil.
Onion maggots:
Onion maggots look similar to common flies, but their color faintly white. These insects or pests suck the nutrients from the root section of the herb by creating root tunnels.
How to get rid of thrips and onion maggots?
To get rid of thrips and onion maggots, try the following techniques:
- Place insect traps at various locations in the case of outdoor gardens. Insect traps work best against black bugs and thrips. They also keep bug infestation in control.
- If you can locate lots of insects in one spot or on a single leaf, cut it off and throw it away.
- You can use horticultural oils like this. These oils contain mineral oils that are used to kill immature insects and eggs.
- In case of severe insect infestation, try insecticidal soaps. Spray the insecticidal soaps directly onto the infected leaves of chives.
- If you want to use organic insecticides, then consider using neem oil. It is extracted directly from Neem Trees. Organic neem oil works against both thrips and onion maggots. Moreover, it is not harmful to bees and other pollinators.
Please note, chives are generally resistant to pests. If your chives have been infested, it’s highly likely indicating that the plant is weakened. Make sure to correct any care aspects to make the plant healthy again. However, if chives are too damaged, you might need to start with a new plant. If your chives have been damaged partially, make sure to divide the clump and start a new plant. Use a clean pot and fresh soil to prevent any cross-contamination.
Reason 6: Overcrowding and lack of pruning
Like all other herbs and plants, chives leaves need an adequate supply of fresh air for photosynthesis and growth. Chives will face serious consequences from overcrowding, such as drooping and limping. When you grow a few chive plants in one spot, too close to each other, it will cause overcrowding.
Not properly pruning chives will cause overcrowding too. Chives actually grow better when you prune them regularly. Pruning helps them spread and form new bulbets. Make sure to harvest 2-4 times during the growing season. Cut close to the base of the plant, only leaving 2-4 inches (5-10 cm). What is more, you must make sure to divide chive clumps every 3-4 years to avoid overcrowding.
Chives also self-sow, which means that overcrowding can occur naturally. While it might be a good thing, make sure to control how many new seedlings start growing in one area. You can always transplant them to a different pot, or share new seedlings with friends and family. If you don’t want your chive plant to self-sow, you can cut its flowers before they bloom.
Poor air circulation encourages conditions favorable for the development of various chives diseases such as Fusarium wilt, Downey Mildew and leaf rust. These diseases play a key role in drooping of your chives in both indoor and outdoor gardens.
Pruning the herb and maintaining proper spacing ensures proper fresh air supply at scape regions. In the case of indoor gardening, please select a spot that receives good airflow. Always place the herb near the doors or windows and place the pot in big rooms. Big rooms offer good air exchange.
If you have selected a small room to place your chives, then you can add a small fan. This fan will ensure a good air supply and will keep the humidity below the damaging levels. Chives in general, prefer big and open spaces, but if you ensure proper air exchange and light exposure, they can adapt to indoor conditions well.
Because chives grow in clumps, you must make sure to space them out properly. Make sure to allow a distance of at least 12 inches (30 cm) between chive plants. Also, always make sure to control any weeds near your plant. Otherwise, they might take over your chive plants and you won’t be able to separate them.
Reason 7: Poor soil
Chives are among those herbs that can withstand drought, small spaces, and still grow rather well in less fertile soils. The only thing you should care about is the physical properties of soil. If you are using an old potting mix, it means you are hurting the chives. The chives will start to droop.
The old potting mix gets compacted over the period of time. Compacted soils limit the exchange of gases between the roots and the outside environment. As mentioned, your chives will suffocate due to the limited gaseous exchange in the root section if that’s the case.
To limit the chances of drooping, you should use fresh soil when potting new seeds and transplanting established plants. If your chives are already drooping, consider replacing the soil, adding some organic fertilizers, and watering the chives.
Reason 8: Low temperatures/Dormancy
As mentioned above, chives prefer temperatures between 40 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4-29 Celsius). If you live somewhere with cold winters, your chives will die down in winter. So, if you are growing chives outdoors and temperatures drop below 40 F, your chives will die down to the base, going dormant.
If you are growing chives in the garden and want a supply of chives overt winter, separate a clump and pot it indoors. It will grow due well due to warm room temperatures. Outdoors chives will revive when it becomes warmer again, so don’t worry.
Reason 9: Low-quality or old seeds
Believe it or not, there can be low quality seeds that will cause issues with growing nice, healthy chives. The same will happen with old seeds. Low quality or old seeds might sprout, but have a hard time growing properly. In some cases, bad or old seeds won’t germinate at all.
Make sure to only use seeds from the same (or at least the last season’s harvest) season. If buying seeds, make sure you get them from a reputable gardener. In case your chives don’t germinate, show stunted growth and grow poorly (don’t stand upward), you can try sowing new seeds.
If your seeds are not germinating, see this post for useful tips and tricks (new tab).
Prevention is better than cure
- Select resistant cultivars of chive plants for growing.
- Keep the soil organic. Do not add any synthetic or industrially manufactured pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizers.
- Ensure to supply the right amount of space, organic fertilizers (after the second year), in each growing season.
- Before and after pruning your chives, clean your pruning tools in rubbing alcohol or wash in hot, soapy water.
- Check out your herbs periodically for weeds, pest infestation, and insect attacks. Remove all the weeds, prune the insect-infested leaves and use organic insecticidal soap/neem oil.
- Cut and burn infested scapes as soon as possible.
- Always water chives when the top layer of the soil feels dry. Dry soil is the indication that your herb needs water.
Thank you for reading this post! If you would like to learn more about hives, please see this page.