Chives: Properties, Growing and Application

Among the whole variety of the onion family, there is a chives. The homeland of this plant is Siberia, China and Mongolia, although it can be found almost everywhere in America, in Europe, and in Central Asia.In Europe, it began to be used in the XVI century as a medicinal or ornamental plant. Now Europeans use it widely in cooking. In our country, it is also common, and the wild-growing species is found almost everywhere. As a cultivated plant, it began to be grown in Russia only in the 20th century.

"Schnitt" in German means "cut off the plant." The official botanical name of the plant is the onion-speed, but there are many others, since it is called differently in different regions: Siberian - incised, in Europe - sibulet or English onion, less often - Siberian, bush winter.

This is a perennial plant. As a garden crop, it is usually grown as a one-two-year-old plant, which has an excellent adaptation to cold and heat. Rezanet begins its growth immediately after the snow melts and it is cut off repeatedly during the period of growth. It is often used for decorative purposes due to its fluffy flowers of various colors - white, purple. Blooms a year after planting and blooms from May to August.

Rezanet strongly branched, its juicy, small, hollow green leaves grow quickly and reach a length of 45 cm, sometimes higher. The root system is formed from small numerous onions, of which grows many thin roots. During its development cycle, which lasts for about 4 years, it forms a kind of green bush, consisting of numerous smooth, thickened stems with leaves. At first they are juicy and soft, and after flowering hard. Towards the end of its life, the bush becomes smaller and shrinks.

There are so many varieties of chives. The most famous:

• "Medonos". Cultivated as a perennial garden plant. In the first year after planting, it yields a harvest in three months. It has a moderately spicy taste, long (up to 40 cm) feather-leaves of dark green color. Bushes are thick, give up to 5 slices per season. The variety is resistant to diseases.

• "Chemal" it is cultivated by a one- and two-year-old, it looks like a green bush, which gives a big crop of green (up to 600 g), which can be cut several times a season. Its leaves have a very sharp savory taste. The disadvantage is powdery mildew exposure.

• "Bohemia" also grown as an early ripe perennial crop for 3-5 years. Greens have a pleasant, not too spicy taste. Branched bushes. It has an advantage over other varieties, as it is almost not susceptible to diseases, brings a big harvest, and the duration of growth in the same place - up to 5 years. Can be grown in the winter in the room, is a good honey plant.

Other varieties of chives: “Moscow early”, “Siberian”, “Crocus”, “Albion”, “Khibinsky”. Another application of this culture is decorative. These varieties are “Curb”, “Moskovsky”, “Elvi”, “Album” and “Forescate”. The latter have beautiful fluffy white and pink flowers.

Chives are divided into alpine (Russian) with small, bushy feathers, and Siberian, with large unbranched leaves. They have gained great popularity in our country and are successfully grown.

This type of onion is a valuable vegetable crop, which contains a lot of useful substances. Its healing qualities are due to phytoncides contained in greens and volatile herbal antibiotics. In addition, it contains many sugars, mineral salts, amino acids (histidine, methionine, lysine). It is also a source of various useful elements, such as iron, sodium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus. Trace elements zinc, manganese, selenium increase immunity and have a rejuvenating effect.

Onions contain a lot of vitamins: A, vitamins of group B (from B1 to B6), including vitamin B9 (folic acid), C, K, E. It contains more vitamins A, B, and C than other onions. Of all the vitamins, carotene is the most in it. Rezanet also contains carbohydrates, fats, proteins.

Chives have many medicinal qualities:

• supplies the body with vitamins, thereby stimulating the immune system;
• raises appetite;
• increases the functional work of the intestine, especially secretory;
• positively affects the gallbladder, kidneys, heart and blood vessels;
• has a beneficial effect on visual acuity;
• protects against atherosclerosis;
• has a preventive effect against colds or infectious diseases;
• effective in inflammation and bleeding gums;
• has anthelmintic property.

With such a large number of all kinds of nutrients, chives can be eaten by pregnant women, especially in the early stages, because it has a good influence on the development of the unborn child. Amino acids affect the development of muscle tissue, so green onions are useful for athletes. Onion skoroda distinguish and dietary quality - 100 g of green contains only 30 kilocalories.

Despite the undoubted benefit of incisor, there are also contraindications to its use. It can be harmful in the following cases:

• if there are heart diseases or disorders in its functioning (tachycardia);
• with liver disease (hepatitis, cirrhosis);
• with gastric and intestinal ulcers;
• with allergic diseases.

With a disease such as pancreatitis, with high acidity of the gastric juice, with inflammation of the digestive tract it is better not to use it at all, since the contained volatile substances in this case are a source of additional irritation of the gastric or intestinal mucosa, which can lead to an exacerbation of the disease.

With an abnormal use of onion chives, the following side effects may occur: heartburn, pain in the head, intestinal or gastric disorders, and allergies.

The scope of speed-onions is rather wide. It is popular in folk medicine because of its healing properties. It is used as a fresh green mass, and decoctions and compresses. It is effective in the following diseases:

• Rhinitis and various acute respiratory diseases. Helps with this inhalation of freshly squeezed juice vapor for three minutes, the introduction of tampons moistened with juice into the nasal cavity with a cold.
• Cough. Use the infusion of chisel with honey: add 70 grams of honey to the crushed leaves, let stand until the morning, then squeeze out the juice and take a teaspoon three times a day.
• Skin inflammation. It helps attachment of onion gruel, wrapped in a bandage, to the affected area for a quarter of an hour.
• Constipation. You should drink onion juice to 18 grams.
• Hemorrhoids. During the month, drink onion juice (15 g) before meals once a day.
• High pressure. Take a mixture of onions and honey in a 1: 1 ratio twice a day in a tablespoon.
• Acne. Lubricate the affected areas with juice.
• Hair loss. Apply the juice to the scalp.
• Dandruff use the following decoction: in two cups of boiling water add 30 g of husk, boil on low heat for 20 minutes, do a rinse after washing the head.

Widely used speed in cosmetology. Beauticians often resort to using onions in the following cases:

• To remove freckles and acne from the mask is applied onion gruel, which impose on the face and hold for 15 minutes.
• When peeling and dry skin of the face, the following mask is made - finely chop 2 onions, bake in the oven, add 30 g of linden honey. Keep the mask for a quarter of an hour. The duration of treatment is 10 days.
• To strengthen the hair cut greens applied to the roots, hold for 10 minutes, then wash your hair.
• To restore hair growth, a mixture of vodka (two spoons) and juice (one spoon) is used, which is applied to the head with a course for three months. If the hair is oily, 2 drops of lemon juice are added to the mixture.
• To get rid of dandruff weekly, you need to rub one or two spoons of juice into the skin, and, having covered your head, hold for an hour, then wash your hair.
• From fungal diseases wipe your feet for ten days with fresh juice.
• From corns use a mixture of onion juice and linden honey, taken in equal quantities. At night, you need to make a compress and hold until the morning.

Cooking, of course, also can not do without this storehouse of vitamins and nutrients. Its juicy, tender bright green leaves-feathers are used. First of all, onions are necessary for vegetable salads, to which it gives a peculiar taste. It is added to dishes specifically or instead of onions. According to its taste, onion speed far exceeds the turnip.

Chives fit to the first dishes, soups and borscht, meat, fish and pate, which acquire a special smell, juiciness and unique taste. The exceptions are legumes, to which you should not add it, because it suppresses their taste. Potatoes will be much tastier and more fragrant if you add onions. Slicer gives a special taste to the stuffing of eggs and butter for the pies. His shoots can be tied envelopes stuffed pancakes.

In addition, the speed serves to decorate appetizers, sandwiches, and its beautiful fluffy flowers of different shades can decorate both salads and side dishes. In dried form, it is part of many seasonings along with other herbs - dill, rosemary, coriander, basil and others.

Chives can be harvested for the winter. You can:

• Dry. Chopped onion shoots are dried either in air or in an oven at 50 degrees. Store dried onions in a tightly closed glass container in a dark, cool room.
• Salt. Chopped onions mixed with salt in a ratio of 4: 1, put in a container, press down to make juice. Store container in a cool place.
• To freeze. Thoroughly washed and dried onions cut into pieces, put in sealed packages in the freezer. Frozen onions retain all their beneficial properties.

A chives preserved in this way will benefit all winter until the next harvest.

Decorative varieties of chives are widely used in such kind of activity as floristics, for decorating bouquets, flower arrangements, as well as in landscape design when designing flower beds, rabatok, as curbs.

Before planting chives, first choose a landing site. The main condition is a sufficient amount of moisture and the absence of direct rays of the sun, since in the sun the leaves become hard and unsuitable for feeding. However, the site should still be sufficiently lit. The best place to grow is partial shade, where it is humid and not hot.

It is also necessary to take into account the compatibility of the chisel with other vegetable crops. With legumes (peas, beans), with cabbage and beets, it is next to bad, they are not recommended to be planted nearby. Good neighbors for onions are carrots and tomatoes.

The composition of the soil chives is not very demanding, but its growth will be better on nutritious, fairly moist soils. Compost (humus) in the amount of 1 bucket per 1 square kilometer should be introduced into clay soils in the fall. m, then dig up to a depth of about 25 cm. In the spring, the area intended for planting onions is dug up again, removing the weeds together with the roots, since they are detrimental to the shoots of chives. Before planting, it is necessary to loosen the soil and water it abundantly to create the best conditions for growing onions.

Growing chives is possible by the seedling method, planting a bunch of stalks or turf and seeds. Terms of onion planting:

• Spring in April. This is the most successful period, since the onion will be able to bring the harvest, even if small, and will be fixed to the winter period.
• In the summer of July. During this period, planting requires good care: it needs to be watered regularly, fertilized and weeded. Greens can not be cut until the next spring harvest.
• Autumn in October and November. Planted onions will sprout in March and will have strong roots.

When planted with onion seeds, they are pre-prepared. First of all, it is necessary to remove empty substandard seeds. To do this, pour the seeds with water, mix and allow to stand. Empty float to the surface, they are removed.

Before sowing seeds in the soil, you must first loosen the soil, then water it well to create the best conditions for the growth of onions. Chives are planted in an ordinary pattern. The distance between the rows for a one-year and two-year-old onion is 35 cm, and for a perennial - 50 cm. Having made the grooves, the ground must be compacted, so the bow will take root better. Seeds are sown to a depth of 1 cm.

After sowing the rows are mulched with compost. Shoots appear about ten days later. After the appearance of this leaf, the onion is thinned, leaving 4 cm for annuals and biennials, and if the perennial onion is about 15 cm. The earth is regularly loosened, which promotes air penetration to the roots and their good growth.

Another method of growing skoroda-onion is planting turf. Sod is a bunch of shoots taken from an adult bush that has grown for at least 4 years. This method of transplanting should be done either in early spring or at the end of summer so that the onion can adapt and begin full development. First, in an adult bush, the green mass is cut off, leaving the processes about 7 cm long. Then the bush is divided into parts of 9-10 stems.

Each individual bundle is planted in pre-prepared wells, they are watered and fertilized (humus, azophoska). The distance between the holes is the same as when planting seeds. Put the beam in the hole, not deepening it into the ground, but pressing down, then it must be watered well.

Transplantation of schnitt dernina requires compliance with some rules:

• dug bunches cannot be stored for a long time, because onions may rot;
• the soil in the holes should be tamped;
• in the fall, organic (manure, humus) and mineral fertilizers (phosphorus, potash fertilizers) are applied to the site intended for planting onions, and saltpeter is added in spring.

After transplantation, the land is regularly loosened, including in the aisle.

You can plant onions and seedling method, but this method is used in the cultivation of one-and two-year-old plants. In this case, onions can be cut in the first year. Seeds for seedlings sown in early March. For growing seedlings will require boxes filled with soil that needs to be leveled and compacted, then pour well.

Sow the seeds need to be evenly over the entire area of ​​the soil, then cover with a layer of soil above, so that the planting depth is no more than 1 cm, and again ram the ground. Crops need to cover with foil. Shoots appear about five days later. Caring for seedlings is regular watering, maintaining the temperature within + 18- + 20 degrees. After the appearance of this leaf thin the onions. After two months, seedlings can be transplanted into the ground in the designated area. The width of the aisle is 35-40 cm, and between the bow - about 25 cm.

In the first year after planting, care for chives is to regularly loosen the soil, mulch and weed weeding, which suppress the growth of the onion shoots. Dried onion processes are removed. As the onion grows, it forms a large dense green bush, and then it is no longer necessary to loosen and mulch it.

Taste properties of onions are also lost during flowering. To preserve the juiciness and tenderness of the leaves, the arrows with the buds must be cut off and not brought to the full bloom of the buds.

For a large and high-quality crop chives need to be fertilized.He feels the need for both organic and mineral fertilizers. The best organic fertilizers are compost and manure. A mixture of saltpeter and chicken manure (1: 10) or mullein (1: 6) is well suited for feeding, which must be done at least twice a summer. The first subcortex is made after the first cutting of leaves, for example, with such a mixture: ash (1 cup), mullein solution (for 15 liters of water 1 hour of manure), chicken manure, diluted in water in a ratio of 1:20.

After making this nutrient mixture, the onions should be washed with water. You can also fertilize the soil azofoskoy, nitrofoskoy or complex fertilizer Kemira. With sufficiently nutritious soil, one dressing is done, and with exhausted soil, it is necessary to feed onions after the second and after the third cutting of leaves.

Care will be inadequate if you do not work to prevent and treat diseases when they occur. This type of onion is rarely infected, but among the possible diseases, rust and powdery mildew are most likely, and the most common insect pests are the mining mole and the onion fly. Rust is a fungal disease that affects only the leaves. A sign of the disease is the appearance of a yellow-orange bloom, which then turns black.

When a disease is detected, the affected parts of the bush are cut off and destroyed. During enhanced growth of onions, it is useful to spray the solution (1%) of Bordeaux mixture with a preventive purpose. If harmful insects appear, the soil should be sprinkled with a solution of salt, followed by washing the ground with water after about 4 hours. For prevention, it is useful to do this watering after the first shoots appear and then regularly repeat it about 3 times a month.

Another dangerous insect for onions is onion thrips, which can also lead to the death of the plant. To prevent infection by these pests, the following measures should be taken:

• Before planting, warm the onions in warm water (45-50 degrees) for about 10 minutes;
• a bush dug out of the ground to hold in the sun;
• beds, infected with onion thrips, carefully dig up, removing the remaining parts.

The bush of chives grows fast and by the age of five the number of shoots can reach 200. It is difficult to care for it, and the quality of leaves deteriorates (leaves are small, coarse). Such bushes need to be replanted.

Cut onion leaves, too, must be carried out correctly. For one season, onions are cut 3, rarely 4 times. Leaves should be cut from 25 to 40 cm in length. They can be removed for the first time already in May, and the last time - in September, so that the onions can become stronger before the onset of autumn cold weather.

Chives can well winter in a pot at home. To do this, choose 3-4-year-old bushes, which in October are dug together with a clod of earth. The green part is trimmed, the roots are trimmed, then planted in pots or other containers. With favorable air temperature, regular watering and good ventilation, new shoots appear already after 20 days.

In order to always have a green chives on the table in winter, it can also be sown with seeds. Drainage is placed in a shallow container at the bottom, then filled with soil (you can use ready-made soil for seedlings) and sow the seeds, following all the rules, just like when planting in the soil. In the first year after planting the greens are not cut. Onions should form a bush. For growing home chives can be planted and onions. In a container with a wet ground need to plant onions with an interval of 1 cm.

Then the container with the onions planted should be placed in a cool and dark room and kept for several days until it takes roots and becomes stronger. After that, it is transferred to a warm and bright place (you can on the window sill). For good growth, there should be a temperature of about +25 degrees, watering should be done as needed, not allowing the soil to dry out, and fertilizing with mineral fertilizer is done once.

Home-grown chives require minimal care, but provide a stable yield.

In addition to the undoubted value as a food product, chives have other advantages. It is a honey plant, it helps in the fight against harmful insects, such as carrot flies, and also helps to avoid fungal diseases in roses, gooseberries and apple trees. Possessing such qualities, it is rightfully worthy of growing at each summer cottage.

A review of chives is in the next video.