Many, if not most of the "green" as opposed to the purple or varigated plants look similar. I wonder if your concerns are an example of micromanagement? The plants are growing and producing pods - so what is the problem?
Bottom leaves are going to fall off - not just from peppers but from every plant I have ever grown.
BTW, I do not want to claim to be an expert - I have never grown peppers from seeds until this year and last year was the first time I raised anything but Bell peppers. But I bought a few plants, stuck them in the ground and never paid a whit of attention to the leaves or anything else. When the ground went a couple of weeks without rain, I watered them, if a weed came up next to them, I extracted it. I had a fairly bountiful harvest, which could have been beginner's luck.
Almost all my plants are in their final or semi-final resting place and they will grow or die. With the exception of a few indoor plants, I'm not going to worry about aphids (which I had hardly heard of until the winter), mites, nematoids or any creatures except for rabbits, squirrels, groundhogs or raccoons. Mother Nature has a way of working, that's why after a few millenia we are still gowing plants
I'm almost off my soapbox, but have any of you looked into how commercial chili pepper growers raise a crop? Sow seeds, pluck plants once they get big enough, stick them in the ground, pick peppers when they get ripe. I doubt if anyone walks all the acres daily to see if leaves are curling or if aphids are attacking.
IMHO, YMMV, Take with a a grain of salt.
Mike
