The garden center where I bought my plants said that I should water tomatoes and bell peppers 2x a week in the morning. I would water at 8 AM for 40 min with a super soaker hose turned on all the way, and I would discover some of my plants wilting in the sun by noon the following day. So I would water the plants again even though I was told not to water in the middle of the day. Also, my bell pepperÂs leaves were curling which I read is a sign of under watering. It developed 3 little bell peppers, but they were badly twisted and one fell off today. I just went back to the garden center today and they sold me a neat little gadget called a "Moisture meter" for $8. My bell pepper was an 8 out of 10 in terms of moisture or borderline "wet". My potted plants were 10+ or "wet". My avocado tree was 5 out of 10 or "moist". I had been watering my avocado tree and blueberry bush every 4 days and they were due for watering today. My blueberry bush was an 8 and I decided to water it according to schedule too. The man I talked to at the garden center said that it would be ok to water my plants every day if they are dry because it is very hot and dry right now. But I wonder if I should bump up the time from 40 min to say 60 min with the soaker hose. By the way, I donÂt have a lot of run off or any standing water after using the soaker hose. And my garden is heavily mulched. I am in Orange County California. Any advice?

New homes (like ours 22 years ago and probably yours) are generally leveled and graded with the subsoil extracted from digging out the basement hole. The topsoil is stripped and if any soil has to be added for final grading (i.e., even after spreading the basement subsoil), it is not topsoil generally. This "grading" soil is usually very rich soil but devoid of organic matter. And, as you now know, organic matter is needed to get this soil "alive". You just have to add MASSIVE amounts of organic matter to make it friable. Every year, I mulch mow a HUGE amount of autumn leaves all around the yard and garden. It is something you have to do every year (i.e, adding organic matter). Raised beds are good for veggies and flowers but you can amend strips of the existing soil by adding massive amounts of organic matter and digging it in. (You'll have to make the raised beds out of purchased topsoil, Canadian peat and compost, etc., to get them "ready to use" immediately. I'd keep the compost in the new raised beds at about 10 percent IMHO.) Now is an absolutely perfect time to do this. Go around your area and see if you can find any curbside leaf bags and dig those into flower or veggie growing areas you want in the future and/or mulch mow them EVERYWHERE. Now is the time to do this and I recommend you do this on a MASSIVE scale. You'll have to run the mower over the thick layer of leaves 3 to 4 times to get it real small. Over time you will see dramatic results IMHO. All this organic material addition/amending is alot of work but it is great exercise and very rewarding IMHO. Good luck!! Tidbit: I talked to Dr. Elaine Ingram (she's an expert on soils) a few years back asking about the typical suburban soil around new homes and she basically said: "You probably can't add enough organic matter in your lifetime to make the soil 'too organic'." What she was really saying was "have at it" and don't worry about mulching massive amounts of organic matter onto the soil. Compost, shredded leaves, mulched grass clippings, wood chips, etc. Dr. Ingram isn't big on digging stuff into the soil but she said for new suburban soils this is fine to get things "started". She also said autumn leaves are great organic material.

looks like nice parkland! are those fruit trees or just ornamental? by the way, some growers from thailand ship internationally - it all depends on agro import rules where you are and how fast the plants can ship so as not to die! may be better selection/shipping from australia? rainy Hilo on big island in hawaii /carribbean/thai/philippines/aussi tropics - would be similar to your area somewhat. there are subsets of garden web for australia/europe/etc i'll poke around to find some links for seed/fruit shippers in asia. i like learning and reading about tropical anything :). by the way you should have some incredible alocasia/colocasias (elephant ears) locally - are you familiar at all with them? colocasias are edible. prime example is taro - traditional hawaiian crop. not that i like it myself. but there are various kinds of very tasty tropical sweet potatoes that you might grow instead: yams, batatas, boniatos (cuban white sweet potato). also you should be able to grow monstera deliciosa - it produces an edible large fruit (cousin of swiss cheese houseplant). peas like it cool, but some beans can def take hot/humid like lima beans and some you can eat fresh from the pod. and all are available as seeds. e.g. from australia but shipping only locally - see tropical beans at the end. http://www.greenharvest.com.au/SeedOrganic/VegetableSeeds/Beans.html it's worth looking into indian stuff (which i know very little about, except i can see it in the freezer in the supermarket!). they grow all sorts of beans/long squashes in the steamy south. oh, you might be able to get some seeds/info/sites thru UK on that! found what i think is a good place in philippines (at list to start looking, not sure about international shipping) - info on fruit trees.ships nursery trees. http://www.dizonexoticfruittrees.com/index2.htm it was referenced last year - Q on shipping/visting with recommendation on http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=3111.0 seems to be a very active and useful forum too! here some useful links info/growing hawaii/fl/china http://www.lycheesonline.com/links.cfm this is Caribbean puerto rican site(us territory): they ship internationally. even just getting familiar with names can take time:) http://www.montosogardens.com/tropical_fruit_trees.htm

Are you trying to preserve the wood grain look? Is it real wood or particle board with fake wood laminate? A picture would be great. Paint: spray equipment will make the job look a lot better w/o brush or roller marks. Putty and sand all the knots and other minor nicks. Putty and sand again after the first coat dries. Wait a week before installation for the paint to cure. Stain: wipe the stain on and let dry thoroughly. Get some Deft brushing lacquer and brush (or spray) several light coats. Sand lightly with 220 grit between coats. Wait a week before installation for the lacquer to cure. Varnish: is an oil stain with resins that harden into the surface of wood. Wipe on several coats. Let dry for a day between each coat. Sand lightly between coats to remove burs. After the final coat is completely dry a few days and not at all tacky, rub with #0000 super fine steel wool and then buff with a soft rag. Ready to install.