The plants look pretty darned nice to me! I don't know that it is optimal, but, that wrinkling / puckering on the leaves is very common on the chinese varieties. re: bonemeal - I have heard many recommendations to use it, and just as many saying it takes so long to break down / be available to the plant that you are wasting your time and any anecdotal evidence is more likely attributed to time for it to grow out of it or some other environmental factor and not really the bonemeal. Jiffy pods - are you talking about the peat pellets and their netting? I would and always do remove that netting. But, if they're already growing into their new home, it might not be worth the potential damage digging it up to remove it. Same thing with the peat pots that you can just bury - I always remove that thing. Probably personal preference more than anything, but, I have seen where they had problems growing through either, so, I just get them out of the way.

Are these "Aleppo" peppers indigenous to India? There's a nice lady who owns a farm in India who wants me to send her some seed for crafting gourds that she can't get there. She offered to send me some seeds from local Indian peppers as a trade. Is there another name or names that Aleppo goes by in various regions of India? So far, she has only sent me a list that she copied from a catalog she uses to order seed for her farm: CHILLI 1. N.P.-46 A mild long dark green variety. Heavy yielder. 2) Jwala light green coloured long fruited variety. mild pungency. Heavy cropper. 3) G-4 Released from Guntur, a good variety for semi arid zones. much longer in size. 4) P.C.-1 released by GB Pant University. fruits long and thick facing upwards. heavy cropper. 5) P.C.-2 selection fromNP46.A, having pendant fruits 6) X235 fruit and yield is better than G$ 7) Surya Mukhi Cluster - fruiting like PC1 but in cluster, fruiting throughout the year. 8) CA960 early fruiting and is superior in dry pod weight 9) Trupti Jwala-type but longer LCA305 dark green, heavy fruiting LCA206 developed from G3, having good colour retention I don't see anything indicating "Aleppo" there, do you? In any case, if you can tell me what to ask her to look for, I will. Bill

Related, but off topic a bit... Does anyone else find that with your remodel, now your dinnerware just doesn't seem to go with the new kitchen? Part of the domino effect, I suppose. But every day I'm trying to talk myself OUT OF hunting for new dinnerware to go with the new kitchen. :-) Either way, congrats on the pepper mill find!

FWIW, like Dave suggests, as long as the plants don't lose more than 1/3 of total foliage, they'll likely be ok. That damage looks healed over already & I don't see any holes in the new growth. That said, it may be cutworm or another similar caterpillar - they hide during the day. Cutworms burrow into loose soil/mulch around the base of plants & 'sleep' during the day. Bt can be used against caterpillars, but handpicking is often enough to control them in my garden. You can use iron phosphate bait for slugs & snails - it's pretty safe & degrades into fertilizer. I sprinkle the pellets around my tender new seedlings & transplants.