Diagnosis on leaf color please

[sirhc76]

Problem question up front, the older leaves are all yellow while the new growth is nice and green. 

I've been reading since last year when I procratinated enough to not get my plants ordered in time.  This year I got my order in early and managed to get what I wanted shipped to me the first week of April.  The plants arrived in great condition, all in 2 in pots.  What I have is 3 each of the following, Smoking Eds Carolina Reaper, Bhut Jolokia, Bhut Jolokia Chocolate, Jays Red Ghost Scorpion.  When I got them, April 7, they were well rooted in the 2 in pots so I transplanted them into 4s and two weeks later into the 6's they are in now.  I'm using Fox Farms Ocean Forrest with no additional nutes added.  I'm in central Texas and the plants get tap water, PH of 7 every 3-4 days.  I originally thought I was over watering and started waiting until the leaves wlited only to realize that was'nt enough water.  I think I have the water down now and the plants seem to like this schedule, growing much more rapidly than before and the soil never stays completely wet.
 
The plants get full sun until about 5pm when the sun is blocked by the house.  I thought I had a Mg issue since central Texas, Edwards Aquifer water should have plenty Ca, if not I have a bag of dolomite from mixing my planted aquarium soil that can be used.  I've kept aquariums for 20+ years from salt to South American and African Cichlids so I'm pretty familiar with the water here.  They haved no noticable pest issues. One plant actually has a spider on it that webs from plant to plant to catch insects.  The white stuff on the Jays red ghost scorp. leaf is bird shat, its currently grackle season in my backyard Sorry for the novella just wanted to offer as much info as possible to address the issue.  Pics below and thanks for your time.

 

[MeatHead1313]

Did you put the plants straight outside after you got them? If so it's natural and part of the hardening off process, and the new growth should be fine. 

 

[Jamison]

Usually when they start yellowing like that from the bottom up they are deficient in Nitrogen.  But the tops of your plants are mighty green   This one has me stumped. Ocean Forest should have enough nutrients in it especially since you potted up twice already. Any way you could give them a low dose of N and see if they green back up?  Thats what I would do.  I'm sure someone else will chime in and give another opinion.

 

[geeme]

Wow. The labels look like those I get from Cross Country Nurseries. If you got the plants from them, I'd recommend you send them your pics so they can see what's happening. Since the new growth is coming in green, it seems likely whatever happened with the old growth occurred before you got them. But aside from being green, the new growth also looks a bit curled up. While new growth will sometimes do that, it's so consistent across all the plants I suspect you have something going on, like the beginnings of fertilizer burn. 

 

[sirhc76]

Did you put the plants straight outside after you got them? If so it's natural and part of the hardening off process, and the new growth should be fine. 

Yes and we had about a week straight of cloudy weather right after that, I assumed this would help them acclimate to the Texas sun.
 

Usually when they start yellowing like that from the bottom up they are deficient in Nitrogen.  But the tops of your plants are mighty green   This one has me stumped. Ocean Forest should have enough nutrients in it especially since you potted up twice already. Any way you could give them a low dose of N and see if they green back up?  Thats what I would do.  I'm sure someone else will chime in and give another opinion.

I tested the soil because I thought the same thing, NPK were all right were they should be although this was a lower cost luster leaf rapid test.  I can give it a whirl.
 

Wow. The labels look like those I get from Cross Country Nurseries. If you got the plants from them, I'd recommend you send them your pics so they can see what's happening. Since the new growth is coming in green, it seems likely whatever happened with the old growth occurred before you got them. But aside from being green, the new growth also looks a bit curled up. While new growth will sometimes do that, it's so consistent across all the plants I suspect you have something going on, like the beginnings of fertilizer burn. 

You are spot on, all from CCN and they were very helpful when I initially potted them up.  I originaly bought a liquid mix from the local nursery and ended up not using it based on the feedback I got from Cross Country via email.  Could the fert burn occur from using only the Fox Farm Ocean Forrest?
 
I'll continue to watch the new growth, I thought the leaves were curled up and they seem to be flattening out as they age.  I have a bag of magnesium sulfate that I can dose if need be, should I mix this in the next watering or just add to the top of the soil in the pot?  Thanks for the help everyone, I worked at a wholesale nursery for several years during school and dont remember it being this difficult  

 

[compmodder26]

OF can be a little hot for young plants.  So there is probably a good chance that they are indeed getting a little fert burn from it.  That doesn't explain the yellow lower leaves though.  If you say that the plants looked fine when you received them, then started yellowing later, that has me stumped.  As was said before, yellowing lower leaves and green upper leaves is usually tell-tale sign of Nitrogen deficiency.  But OF is loaded with N.  It is PH balanced also, so I wouldn't expect it to be a N lockout issue due to PH.  Wish I could give you a better answer.  

 

[Geonerd]

So long as the new growth remain healthy, I wouldn't worry, or go changing anything.
 
You might try a foliar spray, limited to a few of the pale leaves, and see if that cheers them up.  (Perhaps epsom salt and 1/2 strength generic NPK fertilizer),

 

[mrgrowguy]

This is not always true, but the majority of the time it is...
 
The new growth is an indicator of how the plant is doing now where the old growth is an indicator of something that has already happened.
 
That being said, since your plants were yellowed, and the new stuff is now nice and green, I would say that the plants have already gone through their shock and will hopefully bounce right back.
 
Another thing, Geonerd mentioned foliar spraying the yellowed leaves... I do feel that doing this should be perfectly fine, but one thing I have learned about plants over a long time is that once a leaf exhibits irregularities, you will not be able to revive that particular leaf. So once the damage is done, you will not be able to reverse what has already happened, instead you should look to fix the issue so the plant's new growth does not mimic that of the old damaged growth.
 
Since your new growth is vibrant and vigorous, if I were in your shoes, I would say the plant will recover just fine with continued normal care. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Geonerd]

Yea, the foliar spray probably won't be any sort of miracle cure.
I tried it on some of my plants that looked much the same due to a number of stresses.
The foliar-fed old leaves (epsom salt and the boxed MG that has a number of minerals) improved a little, but most of them went on to die within a week or so, along with the un-sprayed ones.  I did get the vague impression that the foliar-fed plants grew a little better in the weeks thereafter.  Perhaps the plant managed to transfer the foiiar nutes from the dieing leave to the new growth.  In any rate, I don't think it can hurt the plant to try it.
 
(If nothing else, it give the grower an opportunity to 'do something' without causing harm.  )