Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The flat leaves of garlic chives
HARVEST
As for onions.
SELECTION CHARACTERISTICS
• vigorous, uniform growth
• for use of flowers: early flowering
• for use of leaves: late flowering
DISEASES AND PESTS
Garlic chives are susceptible to the same diseases and pests as onions and gar-
lic. Plants are usually robust and healthy, however.
CULTIVATION HISTORY
Garlic chives have been cultivated for thousands of years in their Asian
homelands. Originally domesticated in China (around 1000
BC
), plants quickly spread to neighboring
countries and remain an important crop in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Wild garlic chives grow
at elevations of up to 8200 ft. (2500 m) in Mongolia, Russia, Korea, and in the Himalayas. A great di-
versity of varieties occur in these countries of origin; companies that specialize in herbs offer addition-
al types with, for example, round leaves or violet flowers.