Jalapeno stem warts/thorns?

Hello everyone,
 
I have jalapeno seedlings (I'm complete novice about all this) and I just started to replant them in buckets. I left only 4 of them to give to my friend, but he is still not coming and today I have noticed something very bizarre. They are leaning, but I don't think that this is because of no water or extreme sun. I give them water every other day and the sun exposure is very far from extreme for a plant.
Then I have noticed that they have started to grow something like warts in the lower part (almost base) of their stems. Logically it sounds for me that maybe this is some sort of intelligence and they are trying to get more roots by leaning and those things....but I've never heard of this and I'm really afraid that maybe there is something wrong - some disease or I'm over watering them ...and they are dying....
The ones I have planted yesterday in the larger buckets look fine (for now), only one of them I suspect that is starting to show such "warts" but still not leaning much....
Here are the pictures:
 
Leaning:
http://i.imgur.com/HF6h2oN.jpg
 
The warts in the base of the stem:
http://i.imgur.com/sD0Z4GW.jpg
 
one more
http://i.imgur.com/AICY8kb.jpg
 
the ones that I have just moved to the buckets:
http://i.imgur.com/SukEX4o.jpg
 
First I was thinking that those are some eggs ...but I have looked with a big magnifying glass and those are growing from the plant itself to outside..just like thorns. The other thing that terrify me is that I have noticed that one of the leaning stems is now cracked...I think this plant will not be OK after this..and one of the 'thorns' is in the center of the crack so I think it is the reason for the crack.

Can you help me wtf is this, what is wrong and how bad is it ?
 

     Those "warts" you are seeing are the beginnings of adventitious roots, also called prop roots (because they can help "prop up" a plant with a weak, leaning stem). Sometimes plants grow them when they feel like they are tipping over. Add a little more soil to your container. This will give the roots a place to grow and help straighten up the stem.
     I've seen this happen when a plant gets too leggy from inadequate light. 
 
 
edit: Just saw the pics of your transplants. You could even add another inch or so of soil to your buckets. At that growth stage, your plants would shoot out more adventitious roos in no time. Just make sure the soil around the stem makes good contact with the plant and doesn't dry out for a week or two. They'll reward you with a bigger root system and more robust stems. Good luck!

more light and a gentle fan

Great...thank you very much for the quick responses. They really need more sun. Here it is still cold outside...and the sun not very strong. It is a little bit early for them to go outside...but I will try to give them more sun...and will put more soil to help them to stay confident ;-)
Thank you again for the tips. 

Those look pretty leggy. If you can get some supplemental lighting it will help a them out a lot.

dash 2 said:

     Those "warts" you are seeing are the beginnings of adventitious roots, also called prop roots (because they can help "prop up" a plant with a weak, leaning stem). Sometimes plants grow them when they feel like they are tipping over. Add a little more soil to your container. This will give the roots a place to grow and help straighten up the stem.
     I've seen this happen when a plant gets too leggy from inadequate light. 
 
 
edit: Just saw the pics of your transplants. You could even add another inch or so of soil to your buckets. At that growth stage, your plants would shoot out more adventitious roos in no time. Just make sure the soil around the stem makes good contact with the plant and doesn't dry out for a week or two. They'll reward you with a bigger root system and more robust stems. Good luck!

Click to expand...

 
I agree, it looks like the plants are trying to grow roots. Luckily, peppers (and other plants like vines and tomatos) can have their stem/trunk buried. Some plants like Japanese Maples will die if you try to bury the trunk more than it was (though with Japanese Maples, you can slowly lower the soil level to help make a cool root system for a bonsai).

oh, also, looks to me like they're leaning to the light, rotate them daily to help with this a bit. But, it's not good to have them this leggy, you should do as has been said and bury them, and try more light even if you have to use electric light (with only a few plants you can use even a desk lamp...every little helps, I kept mine from going super leggy over winter with LED desk lamps supplementing natural light!)

I had the same happen to some of my peppers, but never chinense (don't know why). Only annum, baccatum and pubescens.
 
Does any one know when it's too late to bury the stem deeper?  How "woody" can it get?