i am havinh a issue similar to teh above. I got my seeds at wal mart. first thing i want to say is these are really difficult plants to grow. they take forever to germinate and are easily stunted by the harsh new england weather. so despite thier dificulty to grow i am determined to get a good harvest out of a bell pepper plant. i germinated a couple seeds. the dog ripped one out of the pot and i put the pother inside a small grow box with the lights on 12/12 (first mistake) after doing a bit of reading i switched the light schedule to 18/6 and now the leaves are falling off. I believe it may be overwatering though i havent been watering much and they are in well drained soil, above mentioned light green leaves (which mine are turning light green) and then falling off, they are all sitting right in the bucket. i do know i have a couple fungus gnaats kicking around and i spray a pesticide to kill them but it is rated for vegatable plants. it is called Eight insect control, and says trusted by bonide since 1987 (or something like that). my pepper plants are starting to blossom at a mere 8 inces tall. i think the plant is short because of the 12/12 light schedule i had it on in the begining wich forced it to stop vertical growth and begin its flowering period. (i am assuming bell pepper plants are a photoperiod plant) so the question is, is it bad genetics? is it overwatering? is it the change in light schedule and the plant reverting back to a vegatative growth stage? is it insect damage (i really dont think it is) just figured i would put my 2 cents in maybe it will help someone else along the way :) any responses will be greatly appreciated. Thanks Matt

It's a Guzmania Bromiliad. A tropical plant that grows in caves and on forest floors. The red leaves are actually a flower spike that the plant will only get once then die, if you are lucky and care for it then the plant will reward you with offsets or pups that you can pick off the side of the mother plant once they are about half the size of the mother and planted in their own containers. Here is a link that might be useful: Bromiliads

Thanks for the info. I see that it isn't native. Ugh. I will eradicate it everwhere I find it now.

over pruned??? Sounds strange... cutting off the sprouts is one of elementary care about tomatoes or not? Everywhere is written that, everyone whose i know do that. Without any problems. Maybe keep only one sprout and let plant duplicate, but not more, because of slower growing and ripening, smaller fruits, lower quality etc... I guess that could be a common practice in your area but it isn't true here. Most growers over here do not grow their plants that way. Tomato plants do not require "cutting off the sprouts" or keeping only 1 stem. They do just fine without any trimming or pruning at all and the more leaves on the plant the more energy the plant makes with photosynthesis to produce fruit. Some US growers may trim them to 3 or 4 main stems but you rarely see a single stem plant over here except inside a greenhouse where it is very crowded. All that pruning causes too much stress to the plants. There has been a great deal of tomato growing research done in the last 30 years and growing methods have changed greatly as a result. See these photos as examples: Some of mine. Note all the straw mulch. You can't see them but there were over 60 large tomatoes on each of these 4 plants. Tomato Plants Tomato Plants 2 And there is no proof that slower growing or ripening or lower quality comes from letting them grow naturally. What is proven is all that pruning cuts the crop by at least half or more. But you do what works best for you in your garden. Next year try growing one without all the trimming and see what happens. :) Dave