I hate to break it to you, but there is a good chance that you will have to resod, especially if you used fescue sod. Leaving long clippings on your lawn, and watering on top of that creates a perfect environment for fungal disease, and/or rotting of the blades and crowns. You should have started mowing when the grass was 3.5-4 inches tall. When you saw there was a lot of clumps and clippings on the lawn, you should have mowed again, preferable with the bag to remove them since there was so much of it. You are also watering too much. Once your sod takes root and is growing well you don't have to water daily. There is a slight chance the grass will come back if your crowns didn't die, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

cynqueen - Yahoooooo! Isn't it a great feeling to see your first sprouts?! This is my 3rd year and I still get a thrill from seeing the new ones every day. Leave your lids on! If you have to, throw a sheet over them if you happen to get a really warm day and they're in full sun. We have more than a few nights coming that will still be below freezing! I usually starting taking tops off when the days are consistenetly in the upper 70's and the nights are in the upper 40s and lower 50s. I have never had "drying out" problems as we usually get more than enough rain during this time of year. Once the tops are off, they dry out much faster and that's when you have to start worrying about watering them, which can be a big hassle!

Sweet! Thanks bunches! I'll keep you posted on our weather. I thought we had some Datura seeds around here somewhere, but I can't find them now. If memory serves me, and it usually doesn't, I could swear we got some seeds last fall to plant for this year. Where they're hiding, I'm not sure. If I find them, I'm definitely going to plant some! Originally, I hadn't really wanted to dabble in them, knowing I'd fall in love with another plant... and the collecting would begin in earnest. So, when those seeds came in, I tossed them somewhere to purposely forget about them. I didn't order them... my gardening partner did. But, since I do all the planting, I'm the one choosing what we'll grow. Sneaky, huh? (snicker, snicker) I shall renew my efforts to find those seeds. If I do, I'll let you know what kind they are. I now hope my mind wasn't playing tricks on me, and it's some other plant we got seeds for... hmmmm... and I really hope I didn't leave them out in the freezing garage over winter! Yikes! Well... I've had plenty of coffee, as you can tell, I'm sure... so, I'll stop now. Have a glorious day! :-)

1.) I bought my various pepper plants from a farmer's market and they were all about 15" high. Is there a way for me to tell how old they are? No way of telling, depends on the variety, some only get 16 to 20" tall full grown. Some get over 4ft 2.) When the little tag says 70-75 days to maturity does that mean when a seed starts showing green until the point when the peppers are ready to pick? DTM = Days from a 6 to 8 week old transplant, RED is not always the answer, there are Orange Scotch Bonnents, Lemmon, lilac, Tan, white and or chocolate habanero's and others, ( In Bells, theres a permagreen, that is green when ripe) 3.) How do you pick these peppers??? I have one pepper that's about 2" inches long and super bright red so it seems like it's ready to pick. Do I cut the stem it's on with clippers? Twist it off? If clipped, how far above the top of the pepper do I clip the stem? Depends, how hot are they, Real hot, I snip the stems and let the fruit drop into a plastic cup. 4.) How do I know the peppers are actually ripe? Again depends on the variety, a hot banana will never turn red.. 6.) I have read people recommending nitrogen and epsom salts. Is this a good idea? How do I test the soil to figure out what my plants need (note that these are all in ground). Epsom, add a tbsp to the soil around a couple plants, If the leaves get greener, you need epson salts, Odds are you don't need nitrogen ~ by the way Sevin kills all the earthworms when you spray. Big thing is Sevin kills bees and messes up the human reproductive system If your parents were farmers and used a lot of this stuff, and you are male you "Might" have a reproductive organ that will not grow any bigger than what you were born with. (Thank A tree hugger) ~~Although, too much nitrogen can cause the plant to turn yellow as well but usually a yellow plant means it is lacking nitrogen. 10-15-10 is a good place to start with fertilizers. The middle number is the nitrogen. This is B.S. The first number, in a 3 number system is ALWAYS Nitrogen, The second number is ALWAYs Phosphourous, The 3rd Number is ALWAY Potassium. Peppers only need an N = 1.8 (RE NMSU Chile Capitol) Using an N = 15 is 8 times more N than a chile plant needs. 7.) Am I supposed to be picking off some flowers or leaves to help growth? If so, how do I do that and which ones do I choose? I'm afraid if I cut some of this stuff it'll never grow back! :) Only if you live in a short season like a 90 to 120 day season, in a 150 to 200 day growing season, don't worry about it Try a few plants, see if it helps 8.) How much should I be watering? I know based on rain fall... but combined with that, how many total inches of water a week? Stick an empty tuna fish or cat food cans, open end up, out in your garden. If it fills up during the week, you don't need to water, in ground plants. Potted plants odds are they will need some 9.) I don't see any bugs on the plants but I keep reading about all the bugs people find on their plants. Am I not looking closely enough or not looking enough times during the day??? I haven't used any insecticide at all. When you use low to no nitrogen, you will have a lot less bugs, Aphids, cutworm, white flies, grasshopper. hornworm love it when you pour on the Mirical Gro. Also MG delays ripening, lowers heat of chiles. But it's your choice. Just my 2 after 55 years + of growing a veggie garden IMHO organic is the way to go. Byron