Mine look about the same and I'm chalking it up to the damp cool weather. I think we need a good stretch of hot sunny days and they will take off!

My Dad used to make this using only the peppers and vinegar. He used long slender green (and an occasional red) cayenne peppers which he grew. He packed the peppers in bottles with a small neck (such as Worcestershire or Tabasco) and heated the vinegar before pouring it over the peppers. He called it Hot Sauce and sprinkled it over turnip greens, black eyed peas and almost anything else which needed a kick. If I were making it today I'd put it in the fridge when it cools. Pepper Pique Source: Ziedrich The Joy of Pickling 12 medium long or conical chili peppers such as cayenne, de arbol or jalapeno 4 cloves garlic 12 black peppercorns 1/2 tsp pickling salt 1 cup cider vinegar Put the peppers, garlic cloves, peppercorns and salt into a bottle with a capacity of about 12 ounces. (A rum bottle is most authentic, but a small wine vinegar bottle will do, particularly if you've kept the plastic inner and outer caps.) Using a funnel, pour enough vinegar into the bottle to cover well. Put the caps on and shake to dissolve the salt. Let the bottle sit 2 to 3 days undisturbed so the vinegar can absorb the other flavors. The longer it sits the hotter it gets. Store the bottle in the refrigerator or in a cool place. Until the pepper flavor gets weak, you can top off the bottle with fresh vinegar as needed.

Hey, Owen. I don't know if you'll see this, but I think I have a guess as to why your plants aren't fruiting.... first of all, are they flowering? If not, there might be some other issue. But if they are....the flowers need to be pollinated before they'll make fruit. If the plants spend all their time indoors, away from pollinators, you'll need to do the pollinating yourself. I don't quite know how you'd do that...in biology class they had us use a small paintbrush and spread pollen between flowers, but I don't know how well it'd work. Can you put the plants outside in the summer, so that some bees might come by and help you out? Best, Lara

Hi Everyone, I appreciate the input. So apparently I wasn't paying enough attention to the weather--we had another heat wave and the plants are heavily wilting in the afternoons. It's hard for me to say if the leaf damage is the result of the heat or the small bug--I'm guessing it's the heat. I'm going to keep watching this and see how things develop. I also looked up our County Extension office and might head over there as well. Thanks again!