How are the temperatures there? If it gets too hot (or too cold, but that seems unlikely) the pod growth may slow. In that case, I wouldn't worry too much about it. But I completely agree that the pods are obviously not cayenne (long, thin, almost strongly pods) or Anaheims (shorter, stubbier, pointy at the end). Burpee does sell some round peppers. I don't remember for sure, but I think they are all sweet peppers. This looks more like one of those peppers maybe. Angie

The gnats are in the Miracle Grow potting mix. It is a problem this year. If you google "miracle grow gnats" you will get 18,700 hits and a day's worth of reading about people being really pissed off about it. The pro mix has no nutritive value afaik; it's just peat, vermiculite, perlite, and the usual other odds and ends. It's a growing medium, not soil. Thus it must be supplemented by fertilizer when you get some true leaves or soon thereafter. The mg potting mix slow release fertilizer you're using on the up-potted plants is not going to be sufficient. A low-key fertilizer like diluted organic fish fertilizer, diluted to half the recommended strength, wouldn't burn the seedlings. Definitely do not want to use full strength or non-organic fertilizer at this stage. Anyway as others have already noted you are killing them with kindness; you gotta cut the watering back radically. my seedlings are 14 days old and have gotten 1.5 cups of warm water per 72-cell tray, once. They are slightly slightly moist but pretty dry, and the plants like it that way.

I agree, sounds like they're normal. New growth on some plants can even be quite a bright red as well. But as they mature they all usually change to a darker green.

isgen: Yes, that nick is a reference to Pike Fishing. I use a close version of the 5-1-1 mix that has been discussed many time on this forum. It sounds like what you are using is close to that as well. But the mix should be heavy on the bark part. I made up a bunch of the 5-1-1 mix a few years ago and am running out of it now. I don't know what I will do in the coming years. The only source I can find for bark is a very mixed size so I have to put it through two different sized sieves to sort out the pieces that are too big and too small. My back just can't handle that any more. But it is good stuff for growing peppers. I see you in the same growing season as me. I think your problem with getting pods was a result of our short growing season and you should probably be starting seeds indoors prior to March first in order to have plants that are mature enough to put out in late may so that you time to get them to production by the end of the growing season up north. I start mine in mid February.