Caroh, If this forum has taught me anything in the past year it is patience. See below... 1. i am growing jalapeno pepper plants from seeds; i planted them late april and transplanted them a few days ago. they look quite happy, although there still isn't any sign of flower or fruit. Could this be due to the fact that they live indoors? i have access to a yard, but all i could do is take the pots outside. I live in Scotland and i fear that the weather isn't suitable (even in summer). In other terms, is it possible to grow peppers indoors? >> I'm guessing your best bet is to get them outside and be patient. They will turn the corner. Even if Scotland meets the stereotype of being cool and cloudy, that's probably where they'll do best (at least in the summer months). What are typical daytime temps there? If they're under 25C (77F) then you might have problems, but o/w they should come around. 2. Brace yourselves, as the forthcoming question borders idiocy: are jalapeno pepper plants perennial? >> Yes. AFAIK all peppers are perennial. Get them outside while you can, and baby them indoors over the winter. I just went through this last winter with some habs and had decent results. It's early July and have 1 year old plants starting to kick some butt (way ahead of this year's starters). Cheers, Chuck

What size notch trowel do I use for 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 tiles in my shower/tub surround? 1/4 inch? Yup What do I use to fill in the gaps in the corner of the tub walls prior to tiling? Caulk or thinset? If thinset, do I use the tape like you do over the joints Use the thinset, as you're installing the tile, and yes, you want to mesh tape the corners. There's no need to completely fill that joint-- so long as there's enough there to grab and hold onto the mesh tape. Do I fill in the gaps between the wall and the side of the tub (not the top of the tub) with caulk or thinset before tiling? No need to. Bill, I forgot, you did say to use unsanded grout didn't you? Yup. :-)

Lou - no, I've never seen Maggio's around here. I'm HORRIBLE with names lol!! I can see the containers of the two most popular brands we have here, the label designes and everything, but can I think of the names? No!! It'll come to me. I haven't had a chance to deal with my Lodge pan yet - I usually have to cram everything in on the weekends. I never have time after work to get much done and now with gardening season here, if I do get anything done, it's usually in the garden! I plan on taking care of it this weekend tho. And I'm going to check out ebay as well. Besides the nice way they cook and all, I really like that if you need to, you can take the cast iron from the stovetop to the oven. They're just so versatile. And not having to replace pans a couple times a year because they're ruined will be great as well!! I hope I can find some of these older pans everyone else is talking about! I go to flea markets all the time, but I was never looking for cast iron before so I never paid attention to what's available! Hopefully the cat isn't quite out of the bag yet on how great these old pans are and there's still a lot out there to pick from!! Lisa

I want our backsplash to have a stacked stone look and the "slate" subway tiles seem to do the trick. If by stacked stone, you're talking about a tight joint no grout installation, in spite of the fact that I'm not a big fan, this would be the wrong material to try that with, unless you want to do alot of cutting prior to starting the installation. Slate pieces can vary in size as much as a strong 1/8" from one piece to the next, and trying to use a tight joint with a material like that would put you in the nut house in no time, if you don't cut each and every piece to size beforehand. After doing some reading here on gardenweb, there may be a question as to whether the product is a true slate or a quartzite? How can you tell the difference? It's tough to describe the difference, so instead, I'll show you: This is quartzite: These are a couple of different kinds of slate: Indian: Asian: Brazilian: Vermont: Which is a better product? And, does it matter what it really is? Both are good products, although I can't say I've ever seen quartzite used as a flooring material. For a backsplash, I'd say it'd be a matter of taste. Both are rustic looking materials, so if you like that look, it'd be an either/or. Are there different qualities of slate..i.e. better slate stones than others? How do I determine that? MUCH different. The biggest things are hardness of the stone, and the amount of shaling (flaking) to expect (they usually go hand in hand) I've actually got pictures of the extremes up above. The Asian and Indian Slates are usually the softest, and shale the most. They're also usually the most striking in color. The stronger slates will be the U.S. and South American slates. Although initially there will be some shaling, it'll usually stop by the time the installation is cleaned up. I like the look of the subways when they are wet - it brings out the coloring beautifully. So do you enhance first, then seal, then grout? Or do you just seal, then grout, without enhancing? What kind of sealer/enhancer do you use to give it a wet, but non-glossy, look? There are actually sealers that are both enhancers AND sealers (which to me, seems kind of redundant, being that I always thought ALL enhancers were also sealers!). Either way, it all depends on what you want. If you want to enhance the stone, I'd start with a combo product (such as Miracle's 511 Enhance and Seal) prior to grouting. Now, the question is whether or not you want to enhance the grout. If you do, then just do one coat prior to grout, and you can do 2 or 3 afterward. If you want to leave the grout looking natural, though, do 2 coats with the enhancer prior to grouting, and then just use a standard penetrating sealer afterward, such as Miracle's 511 Impregnator. It won't change the look of the grout. I even read an article where they sealed the backside of the tile (the side that gets stuck to the wall). Really?? You have to do this with slate? I don't know who the moron was that gave that advice, but I wouldn't follow it if I were you. Thinset will still stick to it, but the bond will be greatly reduced. I THINK I got everything!! (I'm just as sure, though, these answers will bring up a whole NEW crop of questions!! LOL)