2026 March issue of InMaricopa Magazine

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Peppers can be harvested green, but flavor peaks when they reach their mature color. Always cut peppers from the plant with hand pruners rather than pulling them off, which can damage stems. The more you harvest, the more peppers the plant will produce. Peppers are refreshingly easy to grow. Choose your plants, put them in the ground, watch them take off and enjoy the bounty.

love warmth, so patience pays off. If possible, set plants out on a cloudy day to reduce transplant stress. Place them slightly deeper than they were in their containers and space plants 1 to 2 feet apart. If you are growing both sweet and hot peppers, keep them separated unless you want everything spicy. Consider staking or caging taller varieties to prevent broken stems from wind or heavy fruit loads. Once planted, water thoroughly. Peppers, like tomatoes, are heavy feeders. Use a balanced vegetable fertilizer and water well after feeding. Avoid over-fertilizing, which encourages leafy growth at the expense of fruit. Consistent watering is key throughout the season. Mulch helps retain moisture during the dry summer months, but avoid overwatering. Peppers prefer evenly moist soil that drains well. Saturated roots will stall production. It may feel wrong, but pinching off early blossoms helps. Removing those first flowers allows plants to focus on growth, leading to larger harvests later instead of a few small early fruits.

R ENTAL CHALLENGES RARELY BEGIN with an obviously poor application. More often, they begin with one that seems entirely reasonable. The paperwork is complete. The applicant meets the income criteria. The credit score falls within the acceptable range, and the references respond without concern. Viewed objectively, the approval makes sense. Only later does the dynamic begin to shift. A payment arrives late. A routine maintenance request turns into a discussion about responsibility. A lease provision that once seemed straightforward now requires clarification. Gradually, what felt like a confident decision becomes a steady demand on your time. Most landlords don’t worry about the application they turned down. It’s the one they felt good about approving that tends to create problems later. Screening is more than a checklist Screening often becomes a routine exercise: verify income, review credit, confirm background. But what truly protects you isn’t the checklist itself; it’s the judgment applied to what that information means. Income may satisfy the requirement while leaving little margin for unexpected expense. Employment may appear stable today yet reflect frequent changes over time. A rental history may be complete, though lacking the strong endorsement that signals long-term reliability. On their own, these details may not seem concerning. Taken together, however, they often point to challenges that show up later. Urgency can be expensive In a competitive Arizona market, the desire to minimize vacancy is understandable. Each unoccupied day represents income deferred, and pressure builds. Under that pressure, the applicant who is “acceptable” can feel like the practical choice. But decisions made to relieve short-term pressure can introduce long-term strain. The tenant who looked qualified BY SHERMAN AND EUPHEMIA WEEKES

Hey, hot stuff Turn up the heat in your spring garden

For many owners, that stability comes from structure rather than instinct alone. If your process has evolved informally over time, it may be worth considering whether it still provides the protection you expect. Reach out to us at Crest Premier Properties, where screening follows established criteria designed to balance fairness with financial protection.

Saving a few days of vacancy can sometimes mean months of reminders, repeated clarification of expectations and conversations you didn’t anticipate. What feels efficient at the beginning can slowly turn into a reactive pattern. Effective screening is not about rigidity. It is about consistency and applying clear standards, verifying documentation thoroughly and allowing process to guide judgment rather than urgency. Getting it rented is only the first step A signed lease is important, but it is not the destination. The real objective is stability, stable income, predictable communication and a property that performs as intended.

Wende Gehrt is a Pinal County Master Gardener.

BY WENDE GEHRT

SPICY SPECTRUM

Popular local choices span the spectrum. There are plenty of options in between for every tolerance level.

F YOU ENJOY BOTH THE FLAVOR and health benefits of peppers, growing them at home is one of the most rewarding additions you

Sweet bell peppers �� 0 Anaheim peppers �� 500-2,500 Jalapeños ......................................... 2,500-8,000 Serranos ......................................... 6,000-23,000 Habaneros ........................... 100,000-350,000 Carolina Reapers �� 2.2 million Scoville units

can make to your garden. In Pinal County, the sweet spot for planting pepper starts the month of March, once the threat of frost has passed. The first decision is variety, specifically how much heat you want. Plant tags list Scoville Scale ratings, which measure pepper heat. Plant peppers in a sunny, well-drained spot where peppers have not grown recently. They

480-838- 9558 CrestPremierProperties.com 4625 S. Lakeshore Drive, Suite 300, Tempe