Flavorless Chives

[gata montes]

I really love the flavor of Chives in all types of food and have always had an abundant supply, up till now that is.
Normally I don't have any problem growing things, but these particular Chives are proving to be quite a challenge for me !

I have both varieties of Chives, ordinary and garlic, which were raised from seed two years ago and are situated in the right position for them to thrive.
Am wondering if the seeds, from the Supplier, were not up to scratch or is it something I should or should not be doing, because no amount of care or fertilizer is helping.

They look like and smell like Chives, very strongly when cut, but in food or on individual tasting, are totally tasteless. Think grass would probably be tastier !!
Also, in the two years that they have been growing, they have not spread at all, its been suggested to me, to either keep cutting them down, in order for the clump to expand or let them flower and drop their seeds, which would of course give me larger clumps.

Either way, I'm totally baffled, always thought Chives were very easy to grow, but these are certainly proving to be a major challenge, and any suggestions would gratefully be received, so that I can go back enjoying the taste of freshly cut Chives in my food.

 

[zigs]

Got me baffled there, I was going to ask about feeding them but I see you have already.

Ahh, was it a high nitrogen feed? Might be that thats caused sappy growth. Try just a potash feed.

 

[gata montes]

Well I'm glad its not just me that is baffled Zigs.

The feed I use is, an all round fertilizer, almost identical to the one that you have in the UK, called Phostrogen, which I've always found to be very successful, however not in this case.
Pot Ash I would try, but is not readily available where I live, and wonder if there would be anything else that I could try, as I really don't want to have to give up on these Chives, after I've put so much work into them.

 

[zigs]

Just a thought, do you get lightning storms regularly where you are?

You can use wood ash as a potash feed, its only about 3% but it helps give stronger growth rather than the sappy growth that nitrogen does.

 

[gata montes]

Will definitely give wood ash a try, as I already use it, although, somehow the Chives missed out on their wood ash, earlier in the year, probably because I limited its use for a while, when someone told me, that using wood ash would make my soil more acidic, which was something I didn't want, as not one of my plants would suit acidic soil. Have you heard of that Zigs?

I'm very curious about the lightening storms though and in answer to your question, yes we do get lightening storms, both with and without torrential rain but only at certain times of the year, normally around now September/October.

 

[zigs]

It's the other way round, Wood ash can make the soil more alkaline, but only if you use a lot. Most veg like slightly alkaline soil, except potatoes.

Reason I asked about the lightning is because it fixes nitrogen from the air and feeds the plants when it rains, was thinking they might have had a double dose with the plant feed you're using as well. Clutching at straws there.

For some reason I thought you lived in the mediteranean region but i've probably got that wrong.

 

[headfullofbees]

Sulphur gives onions, etc. their flavour, but is antagonistic to potash.
Phostrogen, although excellent stuff, is extremely high in potash and best kept away from onions and the like unless you are growing for show.

I found these: http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/baby-bio-plant-food-tablets-p-15116.html

to have sulphur in them, and I've even found a retail offer at 60% of their normal price for you!

 

[zigs]

Good one Bees

Didn't think about sulphur.

 

[gata montes]

It's the other way round, Wood ash can make the soil more alkaline, but only if you use a lot. Most veg like slightly alkaline soil, except potatoes.

Reason I asked about the lightning is because it fixes nitrogen from the air and feeds the plants when it rains, was thinking they might have had a double dose with the plant feed you're using as well. Clutching at straws there.

For some reason I thought you lived in the mediteranean region but i've probably got that wrong.

Will carry on with the wood ash applications, now that I know, that it is not likely to make my soil more acidic, thank you for that. Before moving onto the sulphur I do have one question regarding the wood ash, apart from possibly making my chives less spindly and more likely to clump, will it help towards making them more flavorsome to eat ?

No, you are not wrong Zigs, I do live in a Mediterranean region, but where I live we don't have a Mediterranean climate, we have more of what is called here as a Continental climate, a climate of the two extremes, which means scorching, baking hot summers, where no rain falls between the end of May and late September, followed by freezing cold winters, with temperatures regularly falling well below zero, with snow and frost not at all uncommon.

Sulphur gives onions, etc. their flavour, but is antagonistic to potash.
Phostrogen, although excellent stuff, is extremely high in potash and best kept away from onions and the like unless you are growing for show.

I found these: http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/baby-bio-plant-food-tablets-p-15116.html

to have sulphur in them, and I've even found a retail offer at 60% of their normal price for you!

Many thanks, just had a look at the site you kindly gave, and I know the product, but even though Bayar products are readily available here, this particular product is not one that is going to be very easy to get hold of.

I notice the product mentions potassium, and you and Zigs are mentioning sulpher, so sorry, but I'm getting a bit confused here . Both sulpher and potassium are readily available individually here, so, they on their own will be easy to acquire.

Also many thanks for that tip regarding onions.


So my question to you both, is which one is going to be the best one to try first, on my cherished, but flavorless unclumping chives and in what quantity. ? I'm assuming sulpher.

 

[zigs]

I'd go for the sulphur, reasoning behind the wood ash, apart from the stockier growth, was also that it makes them less palatable to slugs, therefore, I was assuming stronger flavoured

I thought you'd mention the Med somewhere, I just remember the thunderstorms every 4 days in Italy & Yugoslavia.

 

[gata montes]

I'd go for the sulphur, reasoning behind the wood ash, apart from the stockier growth, was also that it makes them less palatable to slugs, therefore, I was assuming stronger flavoured

I thought you'd mention the Med somewhere, I just remember the thunderstorms every 4 days in Italy & Yugoslavia.

Sulphur it is then, but considering they have been fertilized with something very similar to Phostrogen, what sort of quantity should I be using ?

Strange you should mention slugs, because I have quite a family of them, which are extremely large and frequent the area often that my chives are in, but strangely enough they just walk past and ignore them, goes to show just how flavorless
my chives must be

Meant to say, that was interesting regarding lightening and nitrogen, didn't know that.

I've spent many long spells, at various times of the year in the Countries that you mention, and much prefer their climate, but was never unfortunate enough to experience thunderstorms every 4 days, if it was a holiday that you were on, bet you were pretty fed up. These countries do have thunderstorms more regularly than we do here, but again it does seem to be more so at certain times of the year. Perhaps you were just unfortunate enough to be there at the wrong time of year.

 

[zigs]

I wouldn't go mad with it, especially towards the end of the growing season.

Didn't mind the convectional thunderstorms, quite spectaclier, loved seeing the suddenly dark skies and the lightning strikes

Do remember spending a lot of time in the hotel building card houses though, blimey, the days before the internet and loads of telly, we had to amuse ourselves

 

[headfullofbees]

Sulphate of Ammonia
Sulphate of ammonia is sometimes known as ammonium sulphate or ammonium sulfate is an inorganic compound used as a fertiliser to supply nitrogen to plants. For those who enjoy chemistry it's chemical symbol is (NH4)2SO4.
It is made by a commercial process that causes ammonia to react with sulphuric acid. When added to water it becomes soluble and thus is readily taken up by the plants, with effects being noticed in under 10 days.
Since it is highly soluble in water it also means that it it leeches from the soil easily, thus requiring regular applications.

Application Rates:
Apply during the growing period from March to August at 4 to 6 week intervals. Use about 35 grams for every square metre.
Sulphate of Ammonia is not considered for use by organic growers


__________________________________________________________________________________________


This will only act in the very short term, but it might be useful, because flowers of sulphur, which would be your best long-term bet, takes some time to break down in the soil into sulphates/sulphides and sulphate of ammonia will bridge that gap.

 

[headfullofbees]

I notice the product mentions potassium, and you and Zigs are mentioning sulpher, so sorry, but I'm getting a bit confused here . Both sulpher and potassium are readily available individually here, so, they on their own will be easy to acquire.

It's not that you should have NO potash (potassium), it's that phostrogen is just TOO high.
Being soluble, it won't last too long in the soil, and so something with a lower, sustainable level, like Zigs' woodash is the PERFECT way to apply that potash.

It may well be that, when the application of phostrogen is diluted in the soil, that your chives can take up the relatively small levels of sulphur required far more easily.

 

[gata montes]

I wouldn't go mad with it, especially towards the end of the growing season.

Didn't mind the convectional thunderstorms, quite spectaclier, loved seeing the suddenly dark skies and the lightning strikes

Do remember spending a lot of time in the hotel building card houses though, blimey, the days before the internet and loads of telly, we had to amuse ourselves

No I won't, but as they've got at least another couple of months, before they're likely to be even thinking of dying down, I shall give them a very light dressing now and a proper one in the early Spring next year, and hopefully I shall have clumping flavorsome Chives next year.

The mind boggles as to how you managed to amuse yourselves, in the days before internet and telly