On Tue, 18 Mar 2003 16:36:04 -0600,since it's all about me
zxcvbob professed:

snipped
"Dr." wrote:


Do you stake your pepper plants? This year I'll be planting habanero,
jalapeno, serrano, cayenne, pablano, garden salsa, banana, and bell peppers.

I usually put those little cheap sorry tomato cages around my peppers. It
helps prevent broken branches when there's a wind storm or if they have a
heavy fruit load.

Heh, the greatest danger to my plants is from that dreaded
garden marauder _Canis lumbercus_ , more commonly known
as the Large-footed Thunderpuppy. I bought some cheap
wire fencing that folds out in little 2 1/2 foot sections.
It's about 3 feet tall and is supposed to be a decorative
fencing for the garden. I zigzag it through the rows of
pepper plants. It gives them some protection and support
if they need it, and it folds back up for easy winter
storage.


BTW, my brother bought mild habanero-like plants from some mail order place
last year instead of growing seeds. He watered them in with fish emulsion,
put a heavy duty 5' tomato cage around each one, and they grew over 8 feet
tall! I've never seen a pepper plant that big before, and he had a dozen
of 'em; several different varieties.

I had a chocolate habanero last year that was about 4 feet
high and at least 4 feet across. It might have gotten
bigger, but it was hemmed in by the even bigger African Blue
Basil plant beside it. I think I must have gone a little
heavy on the manure at that end of the garden.


Pam
--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"