Common Chives

Chives commonly suffer from onion thrips and leaf miner damage, which shows up as silvery streaks or blotches that slowly turn brown. Spray with insecticidal soap for thrips and remove heavily affected leaves; repeat every 5–7 days for 2–3 cycles. If you see soft, collapsing bases or yellowing with rotting at the soil line, it’s often fungal/bacterial rot—pull and discard affected plants, avoid overhead watering, and improve drainage before replanting in that spot.

Harvest when individual hollow leaves are about 6–8 inches tall (often around 60 days from sowing), and when the clumps look full rather than sparse. Use scissors to cut 1–2 inches above the soil or just above the base of the leaf clusters, taking no more than about one-third of the foliage at a time. For best flavor, harvest before plants flower; once flower buds form, expect tougher leaves and a shift toward more flowering growth.