I must be the exception to all of you. I grow two to three sweet bells ea season and they do very well for me. I get nice plants with about five peppers on ea plant at any given time. I live in Thousand Oaks, which is about 20 miles (as the crow flies) inland from the coast and so the temps here are quite moderate (today the high was around 77*f) with the nighttime temps still getting cool. My garden is a reaised bed. I have spent a lot of time filling it with compost I make it from leaves, grass clippings, and horse manuer I get from a local horse ranch. I French double dig the bed every 2 to 3 years. Since my garden is only 10'x15' double digging it is not such a big deal. This year, until the latter half of June, I seemed to have more "June Gloom" kind of weather than the typical nice clear days we usually have. I got a very late start this year, not getting my nursery bought plants into the ground until the end of May. Usually I put my seedlings in the ground late March/early April. This is the first time in years that I did not start my own plants from seed. I like to plant my pepper plants quite close together (six inches apart) as I find they tend to shade each other when the weather turns hot. Daytime temps will get into the high 90's during the day and perhaps as low as 75sh at night in late August and early September. Even thought it may seem like they are close togeher they get plenty of sun. Because So Cal has such low humidity I made a 1'x 3' frame out of 1/2" pvc and covered it with an old white sheet to shade the peppers. Without the humidity the temp in the shade is easily 15* lower than in the direct sun. I find this really helps during the really hot afternoons (say from noon to 3). Even though I have composted nearly everything that goes into the garden I still put a small handfull of fertilizer in the bottom of each hole (mixed with a little soil) when I am putting the plants into the garden. After about six weeks I will side dress each plant with one T of 5-10-10 fertilizer (the same stuff I use for my tomato plants). I need to check this out and make sure this is a good choice for the peppers. I water every day (I am guessing about galon per plant). I find that consistent watering is best. I deep water one day ea week. I heavily mulch the entire garden bed with about 3" of grass clippings to help moderate the soil temp and retain moisture. My soil is such that the water drains into the soil moderately fast. It pools but within a couple of minutes it is gone. But like Justaguy2 said consistency is the name of the game. Out of the last 10 years I have had three that would be classified as "so so". But I continued plant them again the next year. I would try the following: Plant the plants closer together (unless you live in a very humind local that has little to no air movement (ie no breeze). I think the mutual shading helps. Keep the soil consistently moist, but not wet. Try mulching with compost. As you occasionally wet the mulch the water will leach nutrients into the soil. I will not mulch with anything that will not break down fairly quckly. I say that because when the mulch breaks down it releases all kinds of good suff into the soil. I do not use bark, plastic, or news paper, etc. I want my mulch to be gone by the end of winter. That is why I like grass clippings and compost. Try making a raised bed for just the peppers. This really helps maintaining a consistent soil dampness. If it gets really hot where you live, build a shade covering of some kind that you can move easily. I use a white sheet because it seems to reflect heat while still letting some light penetreate to the groud. Darker colored materials will absorbe heat and then radiate it to the plants, just what you do not want when it is really hot. Make the raised bed small (say 2'x3') and use it just for the peppers. If you plant them close together you can easily get three rows deep that are 3' long. And you will have easy access to all sides of the plants without having to acutally walk in the garden. This way you will not compact the soil as you maintain the peppers. Finally,not evey local is right for every kind of vegetable you might want to grow. Pick and choose what grows best in your area. Perhaps the best thing you can do is try to find someone who has had success growing their bells and pick their brain as to why they are successful. I hope I was not too wordy or long winded. Tom

You can use an outdoor model indoor but not the reverse. Independent used 304 SS on both indoor and outdoor models. Outdoor models had the option of clear coat. This better protected against the elements. If you scratch bare 304 SS you can spot refinish with product like Scratch B Gone. If you scratch a coated SS hood you have to have it professionally refinished. The electronics are also better protected.I have never attempted to clean an outdoor Independent Hood but it may be more difficult to clean.

Don’t know the colors for your entryway. Mine is stained on the inside and painted Burgandy on the outside. There’s no set rules you can do whatever suits you.

AnnKH, thanks. That is the interior bathroom door upstairs. Thank goodness. It's a little splotchy looking, but not too bad for my first time staining. I know the pros can do so much better, but my staining job was really small and it started out splotchy looking.