Basil and fertilizers

Q: I love basil and would like to grow my own but I need some instructions. Also, once I have basil plants outdoors, will I have to protect them from deer?

A: Basil is easy enough to grow, once you know its likes and dislikes. And yes, you need to cover the basil plants or surround them with netting all summer long. Deer may not love basil more than you do but they do consider it a delicacy.

Because basil came from the Mediterranean, it likes warm weather. It may fold itself up and die if it is chilled. Choose a sunny place to grow basil, with the best shelter from wind you can find. (Because my whole garden can be breezy, I grow basil in a cold frame with the top removed.)

Basil plants are small enough that they can live in containers. If you have a lot of shade and are home during the day, you can even move a basil container to follow the sun around.

If you are planning to grow basil from seed, now is the right time to plant it--indoors, of course. I recommend varieties labeled as "large leaf" or "lettuce leaf." Sprout the seeds in a warm place; 70 to 80 degrees is about right. Once the plants are poking through the soil, they do not need to be as warm but they need all the indoor light you can find for them. Feed them a little fertilizer but not too much.

Basil plants can move to the garden in early June or whenever you are sure that you have seen the last frost. Prepare them for the move so that they do not go into shock when they meet the great outdoors. Put them outside, in the shade, for the warmest part of the afternoon; then bring them back into the house for the night. Repeat that process for another couple of days; then gradually increase the outdoor exposure. In about ten days they will be accustomed to the full blast of sunshine. Be sure that they are never buffeted by wind.

Set basil plants in the ground six inches apart. Keep them well watered. Pray for sunny days.

When the plants are four to six inches tall, you can start harvesting individual leaves for the kitchen. When the plants are about ten inches tall, encourage them to branch by cutting off the top half of the main stem. If you cut just above a pair of leaves, the basil will make two new branches at the base of those leaves. Eventually you will be able to cut half those branches too, encouraging still more branching.

When the basil makes flower buds, cut half the stem again, not just the flower buds. That will tell it to grow more edible leaves instead of flowers. Often it is possible to keep basil producing leaves all summer.

Q: What should I use for fertilizer on my vegetable garden?

A: I like to add an inch of compost or manure every fall for long term care. I do not till it in; I let gravity and the worms do that work for me. Because the soil has to produce so much every summer, at planting time I add a little pelleted fertilizer. The brand name you choose is up to you.

It is important that the second number of the three on a fertilizer package is at least a quarter as big as the first number. The first chemical listed feeds leaves but the second encourages the vegetables you will be eating. The third number doesn't matter in the northern Rockies. We live in an area where there is plenty in the soil. Chemical fertilizers should be applied with a light touch. I aim to scatter one pellet every inch.

The greediest plants in the vegetable garden will like another light fertilizing once a month. Those plants include corn, tomatoes and peppers. Most vegetables do fine with one annual feeding.

Hackett welcomes reader questions related to gardening, pest management, plants, soils and anything in between. Submit questions to mhackett@centric.net, call 406-961-4614 or mail questions to 1384 Meridian Road, Victor, MT 59875.