Harvesting chive seeds is a great way to share your favorite herb with friends, or save them to plant next year. In this post, I’ll show you exactly how to collect chive seeds from your garden, step by step.
Chives produce seeds reliably, and they are easy to collect, even for beginners. Harvesting chive seeds from your own garden is also a fun way to save yourself a little cash.
If you’ve never tried collecting seeds from your garden before, this is a great one to start with.
As long as you get the timing right, you’ll be rewarded with tons of free chive seeds with very little effort.
You will feel so accomplished after gathering your chive seeds for the next growing season, and I’ll show you how step by step. Plus they’re great to trade for others, or share with friends.
Harvesting Chives Seeds From Your Garden
You can collect the seeds from both regular and garlic chives. It doesn’t matter what type you have in your garden.
The flower may look a little bit different between these two varieties, but the steps for saving the seeds are the same.
Related Post: How To Grow Chives At Home
Do Chives Have Seeds?
Yes, chive plants get seeds, and they produce a lot of them. In fact, they can actually be aggressive self sowers if you don’t collect the seeds.
So, if you don’t plan to save them, you should deadhead your chives before the plant produces seeds, to prevent unwanted volunteers.
When Do They Go To Seed?
Chive plants go to seed after they are done flowering. This is usually sometime in early to mid summer in my garden in Minnesota.
But the exact timing can be a little different for you. It could be earlier or later, depending on where you live.
Where Are The Seeds In Chives?
Chives produce seeds inside of the flower heads. They aren’t noticeable or mature until after the blooms have faded and dried out.
When To Harvest Chive Seeds
You can tell the seeds are ready to harvest when you see black dots inside of the flower heads. If you disturb the plant, and seeds start to fly out, you know it’s time to collect them.
Allow the flower heads to dry out on the plant before harvesting the seeds. But don’t leave them on there for too long, or all of the seeds will drop and be lost.
What Do The Seed Pods Look Like?
Technically, chives don’t form seed pods. The individual seeds form inside the flower heads, rather than in a pod. So, look for brown and dried out flowers.
What Do Chive Seeds Look Like?
Chive seeds are black, and slightly larger than sesame seeds. They are a half moon shape – where one side is rounded, and the other is flat (kind of like a lemon wedge). They are also very hard, almost like tiny rocks.
How To Harvest Chive Seeds
Harvesting chive seeds doesn’t take much time, and you don’t need any special equipment or supplies to do it. Here’s all that you’ll need.
Supplies Needed:
- Collection container (small plastic bucket, baggie, bowl, or paper bag)
- Mini snip pruners (optional)
Step 1: Choose your collection container – I recommend using a plastic bowl of some kind, or a small plastic bucket to harvest chive seeds.
Of course, you could also use a baggie or a small paper bag if that is what you have on hand.
Step 2: Hold the flower head steady – Take a flower head in one hand, holding it as steady as you can so the seeds won’t scatter. If it shakes, it will start dropping the seeds.
Step 3: Capture the seeds in your container – To collect chive seeds, position your container so it’s underneath the flower head. Then, gently shake it until you’ve harvested all of the seeds.
Repeat with as many of the flowers as you want, until you’ve gathered the desired amount of seeds.
Optional method: If it’s easier, you can clip the flower heads with a sharp pair of garden snips, and drop them into a paper bag or plastic baggie. Then fold over the top, and shake it to release the seeds.
Step 4: Bring the seeds inside – Take your container or paper bag inside the house to prepare the seeds for storage.
What To Do With Chive Seeds You Collected
After harvesting chive seeds from your backyard, you’ll need to clean them to remove the chaff, and dry them before storing.
Separate Them From The Chaff
Chive seeds are easy to spot and separate from the chaff (i.e.: the flower pieces and other debris). Getting rid of the chaff will help ensure the seeds dry out properly, and reduce mildew problems.
To separate the seeds from the chaff, dump the contents of your container or bag out onto a flat surface.
Remove the largest chunks of chaff by hand. Then lightly blow on the pile to remove the smaller, lighter pieces.
Allow Them To Dry Out
It’s important to allow your collected chives seeds to dry out completely before storing them. This won’t take very long, especially if it was dry outside when you gathered them.
Simply lay them out on a paper plate, a napkin, or a paper towel. Allow them to sit out for at least a week in an area with good air flow, then test for dryness by feeling them.
How To Save Chive Seeds For Next Year
In order to successfully save chive seeds for next year, you’ll need to keep them in a cool, dry, and dark location.
Put them into small envelopes, then organize them in pocket sheets kept in a 3-ring binder, or use a cute storage box.
You can learn all about how to store seeds here. If you want to share them with friends, try making your own seed envelopes for them.
How Long Do Chive Seeds Last?
Like other plants in the onion family, chive seeds only last for about one year. After that, the viability rate goes down significantly.
So, make sure to either plant them or trade them within one year of harvesting chive seeds, and replenish your stash annually.
If you’re tired of struggling, and want to learn how to grow any plant you want from seed, then enroll in my online Seed Starting Course. It’s a wonderful, fun, self-paced course that will teach you everything you need to know to easily grow your own seedlings. Enroll and get started today!
Or, if you just need a refresher, then my Starting Seeds Indoors eBook is for you! It’s a quick-start guide that will get you planting seeds in no time.
More Seed Saving Posts
What tips would you add for collecting chive seeds and saving them from your garden?
Print The Instructions
How To Harvest Chive Seeds
Harvesting chive seeds doesn’t take much time, and you don’t need any special equipment or supplies to do it. Here’s all that you’ll need and how to collect them.
Materials
- Collection container (small plastic bucket, baggie, bowl, or paper bag)
Tools
- Mini snip pruners (optional)
Instructions
- Choose your collection container – I recommend using a plastic bowl of some kind, or a small plastic bucket to harvest chive seeds. Of course, you could also use a baggie or a small paper bag if that is what you have on hand.
- Hold the flower head steady – Take a flower head in one hand, holding it as steady as you can so the seeds won’t scatter. If it shakes, it will start dropping the seeds.
- Capture the seeds in your container – To collect chive seeds, position your container so it’s underneath the flower head. Then, gently shake it until you’ve harvested all of the seeds. Repeat with as many of the flowers as you want, until you’ve gathered the desired amount of seeds.
-Optional method: If it’s easier, you can clip the flower heads with a sharp pair of garden snips, and drop them into a paper bag or plastic baggie. Then fold over the top, and shake it to release the seeds. - Bring the seeds inside – Take your container or paper bag inside the house to prepare the seeds for storage.
Notes
Make sure to separate the chaff, and completely dry your chive seeds before storing them.
Beth R says
Do seeds collected from chive flowers need stratification or a resting time before planting?
Thank you!
Amy Andrychowicz says
No, chive seeds don’t need stratification or a rest period. In fact, the sooner you plant them, the better. They don’t store well, and will quickly start to lose their viability after only one year.
Tonya Fant says
what if you cut flower to early will the seeds still fall out when dried?
Amy Andrychowicz says
If you cut the chive flowers off before the seeds have a chance to mature, then no, you won’t get any. Chive seeds don’t start to form until the flowers fade, and aren’t usually viable until the flowers have turned brown.
Jeneane says
Can Seed’s go ground up to make a spice?
Amy Andrychowicz says
You could certainly try it. I have never tried grinding them up, but I have read that chive seeds don’t have much flavor. So they don’t make a great culinary spice.
Vanessa Macarthur says
I just harvested chive seeds and would like to plant some and save some. How can I tell when they are dry enough to store?
Amy Andrychowicz says
It’s hard to tell when the seeds are dry enough to store. So, I let my chive seeds dry for a week before storing them.
Julie says
Good to know, we have a nice clump of chives which I love to use for cooking but I’ve never thought to collect the seeds, it will be nice to give them to friends and family next year. Thanks
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome, you’re welcome!