Hi Jen – I’m assuming you are referring to red and green bell peppers? Bell peppers generally perform best in cooler temperatures and may slow down a bit when temperatures get really hot. You can try planting them a bit sooner in the season, and maybe supply some shade during really hot weather. Not too much shade, they still need 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day, but provide some shade during the hottest times of the day.

You can also give them a feeding of compost, or organic fertilizer when the blooms begin setting fruit. You can use the same kind of fertilizer for tomatoes, like Tomato-tone.

It’s kind of difficult to really trellis zucchini because most varieties are a big bush. You can try to grow some compact zucchini like ‘Zucchini Select’ or ‘Long Green Striped’. These varieties don’t grow as large as most others.

You can also do some succession planting in your garden to maximize space. For example, let’s say you want to grow lettuce and zucchini in your garden. You plant lettuce in early spring (like late February to early April), but zucchini shouldn’t be planted until late May/ early June. So plant the lettuce in a zig zag fashion. The lettuce will continue to grow until get close to harvesting size.

Once it gets close to May / June you plant the zucchini transplants in the gaps between the lettuce. The lettuce can soon be harvested to allow room for the zucchini plants. You basically grow two vegetables in the same location.

I hope that made sense to you. If I confused the mess out of you, zip me an email and I’ll explain it further.

Hi I have had a vegetable garden each summer in Pennsylvnia for the past 5 years and I’ve learned a little more each year. I have a very small garden plot. It is only about 5×10. So I am looking to maximize space but also plant highly prolific crops so that I can get the most bang for my buck. Your top ten list is very helpful. I have two questions. I have always planted red and green peppers but they never seem to produce much and don’t mature until the growing season is almost over, any advice. Also, any tips for trellising Zucchini to save space? THanks

Hi Stephanie, sweet potatoes are ready to harvest at any point during maturity for the most part. It can depend on the variety you are growing sometimes. Sweet potatoes are generally mature between 100 to 140 days from planting. Also, once you dig them up make sure to cure them for 2 – 3 weeks in a warm, humid location before using.

Thanks for the comments

Tee

Tee we planted sweet potato for the first time this year and yes it’s going crazy! Question…how do I know when it’s ready to harvest and is there any way to contain it a little more? It seems to be taking over.

does eggplant grow on a vine or is it a bush

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Hi Kitty, recommending sweet potatoes is a great idea for those that live in the deep south. The Red Pontiac potatoes that I typically grow are very prolific in the early and late times of the season, and do slow down in the “dog days” of summer. When they are producing it is sometimes more than I can keep up with.

Thanks for mentioning sweet potatoes….. a great addition to the top prolific vegetables for the vegetable garden.

Those of us in the “deep” south have a hard time growing white potatoes due to the high heat and excessive humidity in July and August. If planted very early the often do well. However, sweet potatoes grown like a weed. So I would recommend that in place of white potatoes

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