FATHERS?!?! I had one, I am one. My son(17) gives me that "I do not believe it" look a lot. When it comes to thing with many keys,buttons & blinking lights he is right. IMO,All sweet peppers are green(unripe/ immature) until they ripen, then they are red(the only kind for many years)yellow,orange or purple. IMO, you are right, but I eat them all & they are great. By the way cucumber are eaten immature in my house( before they turn yellow).

I'd put them in pots so you can move them to hospitable locations as the temps soar all the live-long summer. :(

I wouldn't plant right up against them. I'd spread out a layer of mulch (we use pine straw but shredded hardwood is very nice) in a circle 5-6 feet all the way around the tree. Or certainly if you can get a nice carpet of moss going, that would serve a similar purpose. Then plant further out. I think planting too close is hard on the plants, hard for you to dig and to maintain (lots of root competition), and potentially stressful for the tree (depending on how much you do). A nice layer of mulch or moss is plenty attractive and restful to the eye. If you have any deer nearby, don't bother planting hostas. Getting fern divisions from your mom sounds like a good way to start (and economical). If you want to id them (the ferns), take a picture and post it on the Name that Plant forum.

Is the pH also an issue with organic insecticides like BT, cold-pressed neem oil, insecticidal soap, and spinosad? It definitely is with raw cold-pressed neem oil (best to use) and insecticidal soaps. On the flip side of alkaline hydrolysis is acid hydrolysis, both of which are capable of breaking up large molecules of products with insecticidal properties into smaller molecules with reduced or no insecticidal properties. That's something you'll need to check on for each product. You can probably check it out easily by using the products active ingredient followed by the word hydrolysis. What about watering and fertilizing pH? Do you pH your water or fertilizer before giving it to your plants? No, even though my water pH is slightly above 8.0 at the tap. Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 is an acid forming fertilizer which helps buffer the pH of the water. My strategy for dealing with the high pH is 2-pronged. In winter, I water everything indoors under lights with R/O water which comes out of the filtration system at 6.7 - 6.8 consistently. The water comes out at 0ppm dissolved solids. The slight acidity is due to the dissolved CO2 in the water. If allowed to stand for a day in an open container, the CO2 gasses off and the pH rises slightly to 6.9 - 7.0. Since I'm using an acid forming fertilizer, there are no pH issues. In summer, everything I grow is outdoors, where I water from the hose. I formerly would see some chlorosis attributable to a pH-induced Fe (iron) deficiency. This, I addressed by supplementing with an iron chelate (Sprint 138) formulated specifically for high pH applications. I have noticed no issues I can relate to specific nutrients other than Fe. Have you ever tested the pH of the water or fertilizer after it has run through the substrate? Yes, but I gave that up a very long time ago. Soil solution pH varies widely in containers due to temperature, fertility levels, plant type, watering frequency, ..... . If I was doing it for a living I would have the wherewithal to maintain pH within a narrow and predetermined range most advantageous to the crop. If ever you hear a hobby grower say they are maintaining any given plant at a specific pH, take it with a grain of salt because they are almost certainly pulling your leg. It takes sophisticated equipment and titration products typically injected into the water supply to keep pH from fluctuating outside of narrow parameters. Also, do you use spreader sticker with your insecticide? If I spray plants with leathery and glossy leaves (ficus, e.g.) that cause water to bead up on the foliage, I use insecticidal soap as a surfactant to help with coverage. Al