Chives are perennial herbs that are grown for edible leaves and flowers. Sometimes in the garden or in pots indoors, you may notice that chives are growing too thin. What are the common factors that make them grow thinner? What are the possible solutions to make them grow thicker? In this post, you will learn why your chives are so thin or grass-like and what you can do to make your chives grow thicker.
We will go step by step. First, we will cover various reasons for chives growing thin and possible solutions to make them grow thicker in the garden or in pots. The second section will cover final thoughts about chives and some bonus tips for chives’ health and safety.
Let get started!
Why are chives growing so thin?
There are different factors that can make chives grow too thin, including:
- Overwatering
- Inserts, pests, and diseases
- Lack of sufficient sunlight
- Waterlogged soils
- Lack of fertilization or lack of nutrients in the soil
- Water salinity
- Being potted in a small pot
More or less, the following factors also negatively affect the thickness of the chives.
- Poor potting mixture
- Overly high or low temperatures
- Wrong pruning techniques
Let’s discuss each reason that could lead to your chives growing thin and grass-like. Then, we will discuss solutions for preventing or fixing those mistakes. This will lead to thicker chives in pots or in your gardens.
Reason 1: Overwatering
Chives love water, and need lots of it to grow and thrive. But sometimes, gardeners unintentionally overwater their chives in pots and garden. This leads to thinning leaves. But how does overwatering affect the thickness of chives?
- It leads to the reduction of gaseous exchange in the root section.
- Too much water in the root section suffocates the roots, and the rate of water exchange between roots reduces substantially.
- A direct correlation exists between the oversupply of water to loss of vigor and the aroma of chives’ leaves.
- It promotes the spread of yellow and brown leaves, thus suppressing the rate of photosynthesis.
- In overwatered and wet soils, root rots are highly evident, thus making the chives grow thinner and weaker.
To make sure you don’t overwater your chives, check whether they need water rather than follow a watering schedule. Watering conditions are dependent on many factors such as hot sunny days, frequent and infrequent rainfall, cool and foggy weather, and soil type, etc.
Periodically check the soil with fingers or a toothpick and analyze it before watering. Only water when the soil is getting lightly moist and starting to get drier. Always keep the soil slightly wet. You can also use a soil moisture reader like this to guide you with watering.
During the hot, bright, and summer season, you can water the chives fields every 8 to 10 days. But during rainfall or cool & foggy season, check the soil before watering. In general, don’t let the soil dry out, but don’t water when the soil is still properly wet. Lack of water can lead to chives growing rough and lacking taste.
Reason 2: Pests and Diseases
Various insects, pests, and diseases can infect herbs in the garden or indoors, making the chives grow thinner. The most notable insects and pests infecting the chives in the field are black aphids, thrips, onion maggots, mealybugs, spiders, and mites. Also, damping-off disease, powdery mildew, pink root rot sometimes infect chives.
Unfortunately, if insects such as black aphids and thrips infect chives, they will suck the nutrients from the herb and in return, spread bacterial and viral diseases. Always keep an eye on insects, pests, and other diseases. These biological factors play a significant role in either making your chives thin or dead.
To get rid of pests or diseases, use natural methods only, as you are most probably growing chives for consumption. Below are some methods you can use to get rid of the pests and diseases in chives.
- Use plant insect traps: They are cheap, economical, and handy in controlling all the insects.
- Choose organic insecticidal soap: In case of severe insect infection, you can use insecticidal soap, like this one. These insecticides are best at controlling the spread of aphids, thrips, mealybugs, spider mites, and other pests on chives. Insecticidal soaps contain fatty acids that paralyze pests and kill them.
- Removing pests by hand/water: When the infestation is not too severe you can simply remove bugs by hand, or use a jet of water (if in the garden).
- Organic Neem Oil: Most gardeners and growers opt for organic neem oil like this one. Neem oil is natural, but also very beneficial at removing many pests and bugs (it’s a natural repellent).
- Horticultural oils: Those mainly contain mineral oil that helps get rid of pests and their eggs.
During cool and freezing temperatures, insects tend to hibernate in deep soils. Check the soil properly for their presence. If you find any, repot chives if possible. Don’t use toxic pyrethrum, rotenone, ryania, pyrethrin, sabadilla if you are planning to eat your grown chives.
Reason 3: Lack of Sufficient Sunlight
Like all other plants, chives need lots and lots of sunshine to grow and thrive. It is crucial to select a spot in the garden where there is the availability of 6 to 8 hours of daily sunlight. The rate of sunlight is directly proportional to the rate of photosynthesis. If you grow your chives indoors, place them on the sunniest windowsill (south-facing), with at least 6 hours of light.
Sunlight insufficiency and growing the chives in the shade make chives thinner. Moreover, it leads to stunted growth. If you don’t get enough sunlight indoors, you can use full-spectrum grow light, like this one, for 8-10 hours a day. In general, chives are hardy, and can take partial shade and full sun.
Reason 4: Waterlogged soils
Soil type is one of the main determiners for the growth and thickness of chives. What is waterlogged soil? How does it affect the growth and development of the herb?
- This soil is slow-draining. An example would be soil with clay.
- They retain most of the water in the root section of the plant for a much longer period of time.
- Slow draining soils promote the development of root rot. The pink root rot is detrimental to chives growing thick.
To make sure chives grow thicker, select organically rich, well-draining soils. Grow the herb in sandy-loam soils. These soils do not retain much water in the root section and are well-draining. Loam soils are a mixture of sand, clay, and silt. However, chives are very adaptable, and will adapt to many various potting soil mixes.
Sand in the loam soil allows easy movement of water in the root section. A minimum percentage of clay in the loam soil helps to retain some moisture, and silt allows the balancing of the soil structure for perfect growth and development of chives.
How to make loam soil at home? To make loam soil at home, mix less than 50% sand, than 27% clay, and silt between – 30 to 50%.
Reason 5: Lack of fertilization
Chives tend to grow and thrive without an external supply of nutrients. Sometimes, due to environmental issues, chives need some fertilization. There’s no need to fertilize chives in the first growing season. In general, chives don’t need much feeding. That’s especially true if you are growing it in a bigger pot.
With the second season or after you have harvested chives 2 times (harvesting is done when leaves reach around 12-16 inches/30-40 cm), you can use some organic fertilizer. You can generally harvest chives 2-3 times/year, and up to 4 times if they are growing well.
When harvesting, never pull chives from the ground, as it will kill them. Collect with scissors or pruning shears. When chives reach at least 12″ (30 cm) you can harvest, by cutting close to the base of the plant. Make sure to leave around 3-4 inches (8-10 cm) from the base of the chives when harvesting.
To grow chives thick, you just make sure to apply fertilizers at the right time and in the right amounts. Lack of nutrients in the soil leads to the following problems:
- Necrosis
- Chlorosis (lack in production of chlorophyll, leading to yellowing of leaves)
- Discoloration of leaves and stems
- Stunted growth of chives
If your herb is suffering from the above-mentioned problems, make sure to apply fertilizers in the right amount, otherwise the herb will grow thin.
Reason 6: Water Salinity
Water salinity is the percentage of salts in irrigating water. Saline water is detrimental to the thickening of the chives. Salinity alone has the power to destroy your chives and other crops in the field. Excess salts will look like white crusts on the soil. If you spot those, change the water you are using and repot your chives. White spots can also be due to fertilizing too often, so make sure to balance it.
Reason 7: Wrong soil mixture
Potting soil is a mixture of peat, sand, vermiculite, moss, perlite, and finely grounded bark, etc. The potting mixture is used in pots to grow a variety of herbs and vegetables. If the potting mixture is of poor quality, it will make chives grow thin in the pots.
- Chives suffer greatly in poor potting soil.
- Their growth and development get halted to a great extent.
- Disease and other infections affect chives.
To avoid poor development and growth of chives, use high standard potting soil, or can make it yourself at home by mixing 1 part peat moss/compost, 1 part of garden loam/topsoil, and 1 part of sand/perlite.
Protect your chives from very high temperatures or freezing conditions by bringing them inside when needed. Do not let environmental conditions affect your growth and thickness of chives.
Cut down the chives to the ground during the late fall season. Chives are winter hardy and can withstand cool temperatures of late fall. Do not cut the chives during late winter or after frost has started.
Reason 8: Being potted in a small pot
Chives prefer bigger pots and open spaces, but luckily, they can adapt to different conditions. If you are growing your chives indoors, make sure to have them in a bigger pot if it needs more space. Repot your chives to revitalize them. Otherwise, they will become root-bound and nutrient-deficient.
Being root-bound and having less space means they won’t grow thick and large. You can tell if your chives are root-bound by checking roots – are they coming out of drainage holes? Are they circles around the rootball? If yes, repot your chives as soon as possible into a new pot that’s around 2 inches (5 cm) bigger.
Chives are often lazy and thin the first year, but start growing much better with the next season. So, avoid snipping too many, if any, during the first growing season.
How to make chives grow thicker? Final thoughts
If you are growing chives from seeds, make sure that the seeds are fresh and free from any kind of infection or mold. It’s always recommended to use seeds from the current year’s harvest. Clean the seeds properly with tap water to remove all kinds of dirt before sowing.
Temperature is also important for chives’ growth. Temperature of 60-70 degrees F (15.5-21 C) are ideal for the best growth and development of chive’s seeds in the pots. Soil pH must be around 6 to 7.
Use water-soluble fertilizers every 6 weeks. Chives benefit greatly from water-soluble fertilizer to grow thicker. Apply nitrogen and sulfur-based fertilizers. The nitrogen component will boost growth and sulfur will maintain the aroma and taste of chives. Also, give the chives partial shade during the hottest period of summer and early autumn.
Thank you for reading this post on chives, and why they might be too thin. To learn more about growing chives, please see this page.