I'm in zone 7b/8a---sorry I forgot to include that. SE tip of VA. It has been much hotter than normal most days. The plant looked completely healthy before the rain. Couldn't see any sign of a problem. In fact all my plants looked healthy, and all still do-except that one. A couple weeks ago we had 3 days of heavy rain. No problems with this plant. I waited a while to water them myself. Been trying hard to make sure I water enough but not too much. The soil/compost also has good drainage, too. This weekend we had one day of heavy rain (a rain storm--not all day rain), and now this pepper plant is withering away. :(

We are suppose to have cold weather here in central LA next week meaning it will get in to the 30's, but who knows if that will last very long. It was mid 70's today. So am thinking if I don't get everything wintersowed in milkjugs in the next couple of weeks I may have to chill the seeds before planting them in late February or early March. Do you chill the seeds in the refrigerator or the freezer? What kind of container do you chill them in? Do seeds run the risk of growing moldy while in the cold frig or freezer as I don't want that to happen? And how long is a good length of time to have them chilling, 1 week, 2 weeks?? Best to you and many thanks, quiltingfox

Plant them in the ground now in an area with lots of sun. Work compost into the soil when planting. You may have to water a few times before our rains start, but next spring they should get off to a running start and bloom in May. Al

I've had this happen, and it was bacterial wilt, which was almost certainly caused by overly wet soil (we had several drenching rains, and I had a thick layer of mulch on top that kept it from drying out). Now, plants won't recover from that. They're goners. So if the plants perk back up, then it isn't BW. But BW is a frequent result of waterlogged soil. I too am very skeptical about hydrogen peroxide as a quick-fix oxygenator. Hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidizer, and I would think that it would probably harm roots more than helping them. Water itself has quite a lot of dissolved atmospheric oxygen in it, so a bed that is drenched with rainwater will sure not be short of oxygen. In fact, as water percolates down in the soil, it drags some air with it.