Cubanelles are my favorite pepper. Sucks I didn't get many last year. I'm trying to start some of them from seeds, but of all the peppers I've tried, those are the most stubborn about sprouting.

Kinda like the water absorbing crystals in reverse , huh ? Cool. How much is it ? Wouldn't it be just as effective to add more organic matter or sand ?

I am expanding the garden this year, and needed something to break up this clay soil I have. I was at Ace Hardware the other day, and saw expanded shale in bags for sale, these bags were about the size of two loaves of bread, and they were over $6.00 apiece!!

I went to Living Earth in Lancaster, and asked the guy about sand to improve the drainage in clay soil, and he had a mixture that looks to be about 50/50 expanded shale/compost, for $50 a yard. That sounded a lot better to me. Yes, they will sell it in half yards, which makes it easier on my Dodge Dakota. (I think you actually get more than a yard when you buy it by the half yard, I think the bucket they used was 1 yard, and it was well over half full each time they loaded my truck.)
The info he has on it was written by a guy at the Dallas Arboretum, and recommends about a 4" depth of this mixture tilled into the clay. Ask me at the end of the year how it worked out, I just finished tilling it in.

Anybody ever used any of the Topsy Turvy carp? My kid has been bugging me the last few years to get one and the HEB in Burleson had Topsy Turvy Hot Pepper Planters clearanced out at $2 so I bought a couple. I am going to try putting some sugar snap peas in them for him.

I never had much luck with the ones that had the single hole on the bottom but I tried the one made for peppers last year. I planted a six-pack of habs in the sides and they didn't do well at all but the cucumbers I planted in the top did really well. It might be due to location but I'm betting that you'd probably do better with a large planter .

i thought this got deleted...i'll be having my first year of not growing anything thanks to a move to a shallow rocky area and no desire to do any small gardening type stuff, so i may have to live vicariously thru y'all.