If you fertilize with a fertilizer that relies on urea or any other organic source of nitrogen (blood meal, feather meal, hoof/horn meal, alfalfa meal, boiled rice hulls, etc) there is a considerable risk of ammonium toxicity if soil temps are below 55-60*F or will be below 55* at some point in the near future. Immediately after nutrients are absorbed they are deposited in plant cells. If the nitrogen is in nitrate form, this is not a problem for plants; however, if nitrifying soil bacteria are inactive due to low temps, they are unable to convert ammoniacal nitrogen to nitrate. This causes ammonium to accumulate in plant cells with a high potential to damage the cells (at temps below 55-60*F). If you do fertilize, using Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 wouldn't be much of an issue because it supplies >2/3 of its nitrogen in nitrate form; however, most other 3:1:2 ratio fertilizers (like 24-8-16 and 12-4-8) rely completely on urea as their source of nitrogen and they would very likely create toxicity issues. Hobby growers almost always misdiagnose ammonium toxicity and attribute its symptoms to unrelated causes. In addition to being a frequent problem when grow media are below 55-60*F, the toxicity is also extremely common in waterlogged media or in plantings with compacted grow medium and/or when roots are congested; this due to the paucity of oxygen and high levels of CO2 in waterlogged or compacted media. BTW, if you will be keeping the chives in a pot, you should divide them every year, taking one or two divisions from the perimeter of the clump - not from the middle. The planting will need fertilizing if you keep it in a pot, but probably won't need fertilizing if planted out. Every plant needs a full compliment of nutrients essential to normal growth to be at it's best, and the only way to tell if your garden/ beds need supplemental nutrition is by way of a soil test. Al

If it's in a fully enclosed porch, that helps. If it's warmer in there during the day, that helps. But it can also help if you get yourself some bubble wrap and wrap the pot a few times. It's kind of the easiest and fastest ways to get a little extra insulation on a pot in the porch if you can't do more serious stuff. If the pot is small enough to fit in a cooler, that works well too- think of the styrofoam caps folks sometimes use on rose bushes to overwinter. If you get box food delivery service that has insulation in the box, that insulation works well too. Yes, you should water. But not a lot. You don't want the dirt to go bone dry, but you don't want it wet either. The plants are dormant and so don't really need water themselves, but the dirt still should be a bit moist. And pots seem to want to stay damp longer when it's cold out so you might not need to water much at all depending.

I always bring my spikes in over the winter. I have a sun porch that I heat to stay above 40°. I love that the spike plants get huge! By the 3rd year, they're too big for a window box, but they're an awesome large accent plant in a BIG planter, garden or landscape. Easy to keep in the house too with a little sunlight. Inside, I water with rain water/melted snow to keep tips from yellowing from the city water.

Vetiver will grow under very hot conditions. Plant in full sunlight, water at planting, and thereafter once a week until well established - you cannot over water!. I would mix some well rotted compost or chicken manure into the planting hole at time of planting. should grow very well. You will find more about vetiver at: http://www.vetiver.org Good luck Here is a link that might be useful: Vetiver Network International