Hard to say if it's a problem or not based on your description. Are they in pots or in ground? How much/often are you watering. Do the look better in the morning? How old are they. It can be hard to nail down plant problems. Personally, I have peppers in 25 five gallon pots and a bunch in the ground. Three of the potted ones seemed to have developed an aversion to daylight 8-) As the day progresses they droop leafs and plants to the point of looking dead. Overnight, they bounce back and thrive. First thing in the morning they look like the healthiest plants of the bunch, no flower drop etc. and the cycle repeats. Still trying to figure it out. Bill

I've done a considerable amount more reading on here and most of my seedlings still had the codyledons and the real leaves were nothing more than a small sprout but considering what I had them planted in, I decided to replant in MG potting soil. I had them in the small peat bags and I didn't want them to get too much larger and have to break the root because it had grown through the screen. Also, all of the peat bags have continued to stay wet even though I haven't watered in probably four days. I also started a handful of Serranos in another seed starter on a small heating pad on low. This is on the top shelf of the other seeds. I've tried starting seeds on the back porch, in the barn, out on my flatbed trailer in the shade, and lastly, this time in the house with a heating pad. I'm hoping this works the best, because it is probably the most controlled environment. I also will probably be asking for some help identifying what does make it because it the whole process, I neglected to keep track of what I had planted. And I planted a bunch of different peppers.

I can't imagine where you saw that they don't feed on plants (leaves and fruit), zzackey. That's exactly what they eat. There are some predatory species in other parts of the world, but won't be found here. In most situations, they aren't considered a major pest, but they are known to be a problem to citrus and other tree fruits. As mentioned earlier in this thread, they are more likely to be found in the tops of deciduous trees, munching away.

I assume that before you moved the plants, they were in full sun all day in +105? Therein lies why the leaves look like that. It isn't sunburn, insead it is how the leaves grow when the plant is too dry and it is a zillion degrees out in the burning sun. It isn't just pepper-specific, my citrus does that too. New growth that hasn't hardened and then suddenly loses water through evap is what you've got going. Here's what you do--put your plants in bigger pots and put them in the shade. All of the directions about how much sun to give your plants is usually intended for zone 8 and below. If you live in the desert, your pepers are fall-winter-spring plants and this time of year you need to baby and protect them.