Cheer up mega.
I've had the poor drainage and fungus gnat problems too! Got nowhere out of the rain to keep the plants in. So when it rains they get too wet and get severe yellowing. Sure, I could bring them inside, but I don't want fungus gnats inside the house!
I don't want any bugs inside the house. Somehow last week I got a mozzie or something like it attacking me, about 60 bites while I slept, back, neck and chest and arms. Right arm has 20 bites on it on the underside, chest and stomach has another 20! They really did a number on me, I've never seen it so bad. Gave me some type of disease too as I had the squirts for the last 2 days.
I had the purpling thing too. Seems to affect hungarian blacks the most, then jalapenos and hungarian hot wax. Didn't affect chinense plants except for bih jolokia and dorset naga (maybe they have some type on non chinense DNA is them?). Standard scotch bonnets, habaneros, 7 pots etc did not get any purpling. I put it down to the lights myself. Standard CFLs too close and too hot, and MH lamp too close and too hot seemed to cause it.
So anyway, my plants, including the purple leaved annuums, are just too cold, too wet and growing too slow. Some chinense seedlings are just yellow, all are stunted. Wish I could grow something like JR or milkman
And I got damn aphids today!
Chillies are just a bitch to grow for me you know.
Last week I found a pack of cherry tomato seeds I bought and opened 3 years ago. Never got any success growing them back then, so forgot about them.
Last week I applied everything I learnt about growing chillies this year, instantly got 8 cherry tomato seedlings sprouting in 5 days from old seeds not stored properly.
Last batch of chilli seeds I germinated 2 months ago, I planted a tomato seed. That tomato plant is now 40cm tall and starting to flower. My chillies are tiny stunted things...That aphids now want a piece of.
edit: not a total downer though. I learnt better ways to germinate ANY seed. I learnt the difference between 'wet' and 'moist', and the fact that some potting mixes will go only between too wet and completely dry, so are no good. Also that some potting mixing come free with fungus gnats. I also learnt that I am not going to plant chilli seeds before september, doesn't work for me with what I have available. But If I do, ceramic pots with heaps of perlite is the way to go (I've got some non chilli plant is ceramic right now that I can't keep moist enough despite the cold wet weather.)
) inside under my CFL because of the terrible weather.
