Do you have a chance of posting a picture of it? There could be many reasons for yellowing leaves. I've had plants that just decided to drop off the lower leaves, maybe its too cold at night (hardly a problem with zone 8/9 at this point of the year I would imagine), maybe too much Nitrogen in the soil. Could be caused by virus or bugs (a couple of minutes with careful study of the plant should really tell the story if bugs cause it), or too little or too much water. Even though, in my limited experience, the plants will definitely droop and the leaves will become very soft and fragile looking if they don't have enough water. That is probably the easiest condition to detect. My local hardware store sell soil testing kits for $10. I guess that too much water in the ground sounds like the best bet. Pepper plants just don't like "wet feet". If that is the case, then it should be able to cope until the soil dries again. They are pretty sturdy and can definitely live in sub-optimal conditions for quite a while.

Hi,

I can get a pictures soon but yesterday when i checked them all the yellow leaves dropped off. The rest of the plant seems to be good. We have been having rains very often atleast one-two times a week for the last 2-3 weeks which is very unusual for TX at this time of the year.(Infact it been pouring down like a hell since yesterday night with tornada warnings).So i can say they are getting soaked really well.

I am so getting disappointed that i planted these in the soil but would be better off if i planted them in pots.

Can i pull them out and re-plant now in pots? Will they survive or die? What kind of bugs should i look for on the leaves?

Thanks

Well everyone i am pretty sure the culprit was the potting soil. I really thought all potting soil was pretty much the same peat moss, perelite, and mild fertilizer but apparently not. Either they did not balance the ph like they should have or the fertilizer was burning the peppers. Unfortunatly i can not find ProMix around here. I have searched walmart, lowes, Menards, and a couple of local farm & home type places and non of them had it. Menards had schultz and so far so good. This is the brand i will probably stick with from now. Either that or miracle grow. My peppers are ready to go in the ground. I think the weather is warm enough around here that i do not have to worry. I usually wait for mothers day but i think i will be fine this year. If not i have backups anyways. The tomato plants are still quite small and i think i will wait until June 1 to put them out.

Ncage

oooops wrong thread.

I don't have a garden (but I will magically acquire one in about 1 month. Just bought a house with a raised garden). I know that several people on this forum has been pruning roots and plants and everything overwintering etc. I know some of them has taken plants out of the soil and potted them. Even removing all the soil from the plant (probably to minimize Aphid and other miscellaneous problems). But I would not be able to recommend any procedures. I suppose "carefully" would be my approach. I know that the local Wal-Mart sell soil moisture meters for about $5. Maybe getting one of those would at least confirm/deny possible wet roots as the problem (personally never tried one. But i will now that I'll probably do less container gardening).

But, in any case, it does not really sound to me as a major problem. I am betting the yellowing will go away as soon as the plants dries a little. A few dropped leaves is in my opinion not something that will set the plants back for any significant time (with assumption of wet, but otherwise healthy soil and plants).

The yellowing will probably go away when the weather dries out a bit. You could dig them up and replant them in pots. I plant most of my chiles in pots to begin with.

Most chiles don't have alot of bug problems outside. And a general yellowing of the leaves is probably lack of sunlight from cloud cover and alot of rain..
kendra

I had a similar problem. I dug them all up put them in pots added 10-10-10 and the new growth is back to nice dark green.

I bought new plants, ameded the soil, and planted them in my garden.

The peppers that I dug up will recover in the pots and then get planted in various places throughout the yard away from the garden just for the heck of it. I have 27 plants now, i don't know what i'll do with all the peppers assuming they produce.

Took a pic last night...

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The ones in pots were the ones that originally had the problem, they are geting better now.