Rampant basil flavour of the month

line as well, but don’t mulch around the trunk of the tree to avoid collar rot.

If you’re growing citrus in containers, feed them now and in summer with a slow-release fertiliser, then give them an extra boost of TLC by applying a liquid fertiliser once a month. Refresh the potting mix in potted citrus every two years.

If you’ve just planted a new citrus tree and it’s flowering, remember that it’s a good idea – although requires an admirable amount of willpower – to take off the developing fruit in the tree’s first season so that it can develop a strong root structure. If you can’t bring yourself to do that, knowing that means no citrus next winter, compromise by removing at least half of the fruit.

– Rachel Clare

TOMATO TO-DO LIST

If your tomatoes are flowering they need less nitrogen (for leaf growth) and more potassium for fruit set. Feed once a week with a liquid feed such as Daltons Controlled Release Tomato Fert or Yates Thrive Tomato Liquid Plant Food. Water well after feeding. Reduce to a fortnightly feed once fruit has formed.

If you haven’t staked your plants yet, do it now before they get too big and you damage the roots. Mine look a bit OTT right now under their tall stakes but I have expectations that they’ll achieve great heights of 1.5m at least!

– Rachel Clare

PRACTISE POPULATION CONTROL

The first blowfy buzzed by and reminded me to refresh the fly traps. A female blowfly can lay around 2,000 eggs in a lifetime. Dealing to a few flies in early summer will cut down the numbers later. Use a commercial trap and bait or make your own. Cut across a plastic bottle about one third of the way down from the top. Put bait in the bottom section. I use a mixture of yeast, a little sugar and some warm water which builds up a stink after a couple of days. Or use a small piece of meat, rotting fruit or cat food. Invert the top. Add a wire handle and hang where flies tend to congregate – usually in sunny,

GET GROWING

This column is adapted from the weekly e-zine, get growing, from New Zealand Gardener magazine. For gardening advice delivered to your inbox every Friday, sign up for Get Growing at: getgrowing.co.nz

sheltered spots – but where the smell won’t bother you or the neighbours.

The flies can get in the hole at the top but can’t fly back out. They eventually die and fall into the liquid. The water level needs topping up now and then. Empty traps when they start to fill up. Warmer weather means other pests are gearing up for a breeding frenzy. Look out for fluffy bums (juvenile passionvine hoppers), mosquito wrigglers, aphids, mealy bugs, green vege bugs and scale. Squash the early arrivals to slow the population explosion. You won’t get them all – there’ll be some left to feed the predatory beneficial insects that will help maintain a balance.

– Barbara Smith