Congrats on the Brown Turkey harvest! I'm in the District too (just south of Takoma). I have problems the first year or two with freeze back, but usually not much after that. My biggest problem is the squirrels and birds that eat the fruit. I put little drawstrick muslin bags on my black fig in the front yard, and that seems to have been just the thing. I got a nice haul today after work: There aren't fig wasps here in the east, only California has them, but why tell your partner that -- this way you have more to eat. Also, figs won't ripen after being picked like some other things do. However the slightly underripe fruit could be used for making jam.

Try picking them before they get ripe. Just put them some where inside, but not where the sun will hit them. If the sun shines through the glass, it will blister them. I just put mine in a bowl and set them on the bar. I pick most my tomatoes greenish white. Otherwise something comes over the fence and takes bites out of them. Kathy

Well I wasn't the only one watching for results from oiling. One of the two lone figs on my Jack's QP was apparently responding rapidly, was almost 3 inches across an just starting to turn color when a critter decided it was ripe enough (even though it wasn't ripe yet the insides that were left had turned a medium light red), also got to my Conadria. Luckily I was able to get a couple from the Batatglia SV untouched, not quite as sweet as earlier but still tasty. One of the oiled figs on my Magnolia is swelling and turning color, hope it stays untouched until I can try it. Still have had no response From the Alma or any others. With the weather they are forecasting ( low 40's at night and 50 to 60 days)I have probably seen the last of the figs for this year, time to hit the Jordanian market and stock up on Turkish figs to stave off withdrawal symptoms. Seems like a long time until my "children" will once again provide me with the joys of summer. Woody.

If you still have the Cayennes and Jalapeno plants right next to each other (I am assuming around 1 inch) hold on to the seeds and plant them next year you might produce a cool hybrid! This is also my first year growing peppers. Next year I would like to experiment on growing some hybrids. I am growing Cayenne as well; they take awhile to ripe on the plant. My best estimate would be around a month. I am a first year grower, so take the following statements with a grain of salt. You are correct rain is a large factor in pepper growing. If you have an over watering issue the plant leaves will turn to a yellow color. This is a sign of wet feet, roots have become over saturated. This year I planted my pepper plants 6 inches apart when they should have been around a foot apart. I did this intentionally as I did not have a lot of earth to plant on. Plants being close together compete for soil nutrients, but as long as they are producing pods it sounds like they are doing fine. From reading around the forum, aphids sound like a common insect problem. They are a small yellow tick looking thing, but again you would see damaged leaves on your plants if this was happening. If you don't have any plant damage (yellow discolored or holes in the leaves) I would say that youÂre fine. In my opinion it sounds like you just have to wait around on the pods to mature and become ripe. Yes, I know this takes a while. hope this helps Good luck!