Kratky garlic chives

What garlic chives are

Garlic chives, also called Chinese chives, are a different plant from garlic. They are a clump-forming perennial in the onion family. The University of New Hampshire Extension describes plants about 18 to 24 inches tall with flat leaves up to a foot long, a strong onion-garlic scent, and fragrant white flowers that are also edible. Unlike the round, hollow leaves of common chives, garlic chive leaves are flat and solid.

For a Kratky grower, the big difference from garlic greens is staying power. A garlic clove grown for greens runs out of stored food after a few cuts. A garlic chive plant makes its own food from light and nutrients and regrows from the base, so one jar can keep producing.

Kratky garlic chives at a glance

Plant	Allium tuberosum, a perennial
Seed germination	About 7 to 14 days
First harvest	About two to three months from seed
After that	Cut every few weeks; leaves regrow from the base
Solution pH	About 6.0 to 6.5
Light	Bright window or grow light, 12 to 14 hours

Starting garlic chives for a Kratky jar

1. Sow several seeds per plug. Garlic chives grow as a clump, so sow five to ten seeds in a rockwool cube or a net cup of coco. UNH Extension gives 7 to 14 days to germinate.
2. Keep them moist, not wet. Until roots show through the bottom of the plug, keep it damp and just touching plain water or very weak solution.
3. Move to the jar when roots poke out. Set the plug in a net cup so the bottom touches the nutrient solution, mixed at leafy-greens strength with the pH at about 6.0 to 6.5.
4. Let the air gap form. As the clump drinks, the level drops and the roots split into air roots above and water roots below. See the Kratky garlic setup guide for the details.
5. Refill partway. Because garlic chives live for months, you will need to add solution. Fill only to the lower roots and leave the upper ones in air.

Short on patience? Some garden centers sell potted garlic chives. You can wash the soil from a small division and move it into a net cup, though seed-grown plants adapt to water more easily.

How to harvest garlic chives

Cut the whole clump with scissors, a little above the base, leaving short stubs to regrow. Herb growers commonly cut chives back to a few centimeters and harvest again every few weeks. Taking the whole clump at once keeps the leaves young and tender, rather than picking a few long leaves at a time.

Give a young clump time to establish before the first big cut. Once it is filling the net cup with leaves, it can usually take a cut whenever the leaves are long enough to use.

Keeping a clump going for months

• Change the solution now and then. In a long-lived jar, salts build up. Every month or two, pour off what is left and refill with fresh solution, again leaving the upper roots in air.
• Keep light off the solution. An opaque jar or a sleeve stops algae.
• Divide when crowded. When the clump fills the net cup, split it into two and start a second jar.

Cooking with garlic chives

Garlic chives are a staple in many Asian kitchens: in dumplings, stir-fried with eggs, in pancakes and noodle soups. Use them raw on potatoes, eggs and salads, or add them at the end of cooking to keep their flavor bright.

Garlic chives or garlic greens?

Grow both. Kratky garlic greens are the quick win, ready in weeks from a clove you already have. Garlic chives take longer to start and then keep giving. If you want an actual bulb, that is a separate, longer project: growing garlic bulbs hydroponically.