Growing chives from seed is not really hard, but it tests your patience more than any other herb on the rack. A tray of chive seed can sit bare and brown for weeks while basil and cilantro next to it push up green sprouts in just a few days. That long quiet stretch is what makes people think they did something wrong.
The real reason is slow chive seed germination. Chive seed takes about 4 to 6 weeks to sprout, which feels like forever when faster herbs come up in 5 to 10 days. The first seedlings look like single thin blades of grass, so weak you might miss them. They need steady warmth and even moisture the whole time, and a tray that dries out once can stall the batch for good. Old seed makes it worse, since chive seed loses its punch fast and rarely sprouts well after a year on the shelf. Buy a fresh packet each season and your odds jump.
Those thin sprouts also grow at a crawl. You wait a month for them to show, then wait again while they bulk up into a clump you can actually snip. Most herbs reward you fast, but chives ask for two or three months of care before they earn their place in a dish. Resist your urge to cut those first few blades, since your young plant needs every leaf to build strong roots. Give it your patience and you get a clump that comes back every year on its own. Nothing about the plant is fussy once it settles in. The slow front end is the whole problem.
Here is the part most people miss. You do not have to grow chives from seed at all. The faster route is dividing chives from a clump that already exists. Lift a mature plant in early spring, shake the soil off the roots, and pull the bunch apart into smaller sections by hand. Each chunk needs a few healthy roots and a handful of green blades. Replant them about 6 inches (15 cm) apart, water them in, and they take hold within days. You skip the entire 4 to 6 week wait and get an instant, established plant that fills out the same season. I always go this way when a friend has a clump to spare.
Start seed indoors before the last frost, sowing about 1/4 inch (6 mm) deep in moist seed-starting mix.
Hold the tray warm and evenly moist, since chive seed needs steady conditions to germinate at all.
Expect slow germination over 4 to 6 weeks, so do not give up when nothing appears for the first few weeks.
For a faster result, skip seed and split a mature clump in spring for an instant, established plant.
If you still want to start from seed, give yourself a real head start. Sow indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost so the slow clock runs while it is too cold to plant outside. Keep the mix warm near 70°F (21°C) and never let the surface dry out. I recommend a clear lid or a plastic bag over the tray to lock in that moisture during the long wait.
So the short answer is patience, not skill. Seed works fine if you start it early, keep it warm and evenly moist, and ride out the 4 to 6 week germination. Want chives this month instead of this summer? Beg a clump off a neighbor and divide it. You get a full plant today and skip the slowest part of the job.
Read the full article: Chives Plant: A Complete Growing Guide
