Pale leaves with tan holes...

[Pariah]

I had some peppers shipped to me last week and they were a little pale, nothing to worry about, but after spending the weekend away from home (had family watching them, artificial lighting), my peppers have all turned yellow with tan holes and dried up leaf tips. It is all the plants that I had shipped and it is present on pretty much all the leaves. These pics make them look a LOT better than they really are. They also don't show the extent of how pale green/yellow the leaves are. I have never had this happen before, so I am in the dark here. Any ideas?
 

 

 
This is closer to the actual color of the leaves.
 
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dave2000]

Might be bacterial, from water splashing off the soil carrying the bacteria to the leaf.

 

[Pariah]

I'm really hoping it isn't bacterial! They weren't like this when I left, just a little stressed from shipping a few tears on the leaves. No biggie. This scares me because I have a lot plants and it got cold while we were in the hospital so we had family bring them in and they were in close quarters with all my other plants.

 

[mrgrowguy]

Would you say the Pale/problem leaves are generally on the bottom section of the plant, top of the plant, or all of the leaves all around?
 
If it is the whole plant, that is one thing, but if it is just the bottom few leaves, and the newer growth does NOT show the same problems, I would say time will fix your issue.
 
If your whole plant looks like that, I would have to ask a few more questions, like: Did you just move them outside? Did they go through a dry period? What soil/sub-strait are the plants in? Do you add nutrients to the soil? Do you use Cal-Mag? Do you use tap water?.
 
There are plenty of questions that may still be needed to know what is happening here.
 
How old are the plants? Size?
 
A few of my plants showed signs similar to this on the old (lower) leaves. And they eventually fell off and all of the new growth is nice and strong/green. So it was not a problem for me. But if the whole plant is showing the same signs, then the whole plant is affected and it would be a good idea to really search into it.
 
Your plants seem fairly new, so as long as the top growth is crispy green, I would just be patient. Otherwise, I would evaluate if you have sufficient nutrients in the soil/water.

 

[Pariah]

Would you say the Pale/problem leaves are generally on the bottom section of the plant, top of the plant, or all of the leaves all around?
 
If it is the whole plant, that is one thing, but if it is just the bottom few leaves, and the newer growth does NOT show the same problems, I would say time will fix your issue.
 
If your whole plant looks like that, I would have to ask a few more questions, like: Did you just move them outside? Did they go through a dry period? What soil/sub-strait are the plants in? Do you add nutrients to the soil? Do you use Cal-Mag? Do you use tap water?.
 
There are plenty of questions that may still be needed to know what is happening here.
 
How old are the plants? Size?
 
A few of my plants showed signs similar to this on the old (lower) leaves. And they eventually fell off and all of the new growth is nice and strong/green. So it was not a problem for me. But if the whole plant is showing the same signs, then the whole plant is affected and it would be a good idea to really search into it.
 
Your plants seem fairly new, so as long as the top growth is crispy green, I would just be patient. Otherwise, I would evaluate if you have sufficient nutrients in the soil/water.

 
I just received these plants on Wednesday and we have been in the hospital an hour away due to having our first child. They were transplanted late Wednesday. I know my parents watered them when we were gone, so I assume they used tap water. Our water isn't too bad here. No excessive chemicals that I can detect, although I have never formally tested it.
 
The newer growth appears a bit better and lacks the brown spots save for a leaf or two on one or two plants, but they are still quite pale.
 
They came from Chileplants.com, so I am pretty sure they were grown in a greenhouse and are well accustomed to natural light. They were outside Thursday day, which was overcast and mild, but after having to leave and night time temps getting fairly low, I had my parents set them up at our house under artificial lighting that I had set up for my seedlings. T-8 lighting. 6500K and 5000K bulbs. Not the best, but better than freezing to death outside.
 
I use Pro-Mix with a little extra perlite.
 
I have not offered any nutrients yet and after this I am afraid to offer anything just yet. I have Espoma Garden-Tone 3-4-4, fish emulsion 5-1-1 and Epsom salt ready to go. I have local access to just about everything else I could possibly need.
 
Plants are not flowering yet. They are only about 7-8" tall right now. Lots of true leaves, so they are well past the seedling stage.

 

[mrgrowguy]

 
we have been in the hospital an hour away due to having our first child

Congrats! I actually have my first coming soon, about 3 months.
 
 

 
The newer growth appears a bit better and lacks the brown spots save for a leaf or two on one or two plants, but they are still quite pale.

 
I just received these plants on Wednesday

As for the plants, it sounds like they may have just been exposed to more light than they were used to and shocked them a little bit. This same thing happened to one of my pants, the plant that gets 6-8 hours of full sun. I placed a chair next to it to limit the direct sun to 4 hours a day for a while and all of the leaves are looking much healthier green. I slowly moved the chair away and it now gets a lot of direct sun. It is the lightest of all of my other plants, but it is still nice and green. You may also consider a shade cloth...
 
Of course, if you already have adequate shade, then it could just be a stress issue. I would

 
 
 
 

 
I have not offered any nutrients yet and after this I am afraid to offer anything just yet. I have Espoma Garden-Tone 3-4-4, fish emulsion 5-1-1 and Epsom salt ready to go. I have local access to just about everything else I could possibly need.

Cool, I would hold off for at least the first month if not a little more if you are using new soil.
 
 

 
Plants are not flowering yet.

They will soon be patient and keep them bug free. Remember, prevention is 100x easier than extermination.

 

[Pariah]

Congrats! I actually have my first coming soon, about 3 months.
 
 
As for the plants, it sounds like they may have just been exposed to more light than they were used to and shocked them a little bit. This same thing happened to one of my pants, the plant that gets 6-8 hours of full sun. I placed a chair next to it to limit the direct sun to 4 hours a day for a while and all of the leaves are looking much healthier green. I slowly moved the chair away and it now gets a lot of direct sun. It is the lightest of all of my other plants, but it is still nice and green. You may also consider a shade cloth...
 
Of course, if you already have adequate shade, then it could just be a stress issue. I would
 
I would doubt it was a lack of nutrients then. I may be totally wrong, but I heard the promix can be pretty high in nutrients. So diluting it a little with perlite is a good idea, I use a lot of perlite in my mixes. If the plant gets too many nutes, it could slow down or shut down its intake (nute lock) and since it would still need fuel to grow, some plants cannibalize their leaves in the same way that our body uses fat storage. The leaves will first yellow and then brown spot and eventually die if the problem never fixes itself.
 
But I'm sure a commercial mix diluted with perlite would be just great for the plants.
 
Cool, I would hold off for at least the first month if not a little more if you are using new soil.
 
 
They will soon be patient and keep them bug free. Remember, prevention is 100x easier than extermination.

 
Thanks brother and congrats as well! This is proving to be quite the paradigm shift!
 
We have the perfect shade spot. An east facing covered porch that is partially shaded by the house next door as the day progresses. Setting them just under the eve would be perfect to get some of the less intense sunlight during the day. Plus it would keep them out of the elements as well!
 
Premier Pro-Mix doesn't have any real nutrients. It is basically just sphagnum peat moss, perlite, dolomitic and calcitic limestone and mycorrhizae. Nothing substantial for nutes. That is one thing that is good about it. You have total control of what feeds your plants.
 
I have no clue what all they gave the plants before shipping. Good chance they may have dosed them up with nutes for the trip and they are locked up. I can definitely see that as a possibility.

 

[mrgrowguy]

 
Premier Pro-Mix doesn't have any real nutrients. It is basically just sphagnum peat moss, perlite, dolomitic and calcitic limestone and mycorrhizae. Nothing substantial for nutes. That is one thing that is good about it. You have total control of what feeds your plants.

Thanks, I learned something new, I will look into it. Right now I use Fox Farm Ocean Forest with a lot of perlite.
 
GL to you

 

[Jamison]

To me they look a bit over watered.  What kind of promix are you using.  ProMix is actually a pretty sterile soil-less mix not containing nutrients at all.  I've been using ProMix BX with mychorrhizae and I mix nutrients in.  I'm guessing that they got drops of water on them which act like a magnifying glass and the light burned holes into the leaves.  Just my opinion.  Let them dry out to a droop before watering again and then just give them enough water to survive.  I can almost guarantee they will bounce back for sure.  If the yellowing doesn't go away in a few weeks,  they probably need some nitrogen.  

 

[Pariah]

I do intend on letting them dry out a bit. I didn't personally water them, so I have no clue exactly how much they were given, but the pots did feel a little heavy to me. I have never over watered a pepper, though, so it very well could be since I have never seen it first hand. It is amazing how little water they need sometimes. I usually water my plants maybe once a week or so. I always watered by how heavy the pots felt (crazy how accurate this can be!). It stays fairly mild and humid here, so they dry out fairly slowly and a little goes a long ways it seems.
 
Today is supposed to be a nice day today so they are going back outside. I'm hoping a little sun and drying out will at least help them perk back up.