Pods falling off

[SadisticPeppers]

This morning, much to my concerned surprise, I saw that there were about 60-70 pods that had fallen off the plants and just lying on the ground. About 75% of them looked like they were still growing and developing, with the rest looking like they were just beginning to change color.
 
I still have a lot more pods on the plants right now, and quite a few of them are changing color, so it's not like all of them fell off, but it does make me wonder if that's normal, considering I have nearly 30 plants? Or do I need to dial back the ferts? I'm currently adding 3/4 gallon of hydrolized seaweed/fish emulsion to my fert reservoir once a month, which is injected at a 1% mix to the plants 3x a week until the reservoir empties out. I'm watering them with 1GPH drippers, and with the watering schedule I have them on, they're getting 3 gallons of water, 3 times a week.
 
If I need to dial any of that back, then let me know...

 

[compmodder26]

Have you checked the inside of the fallen pods?  Checked for tiny holes in them?  Could be a pest problem.  Perhaps pepper weevil, or caterpillars.

 

[jedisushi06]

Remember when tmudder had a weevil issue down there in florida year before last.  God i hope it's not that! 

 

[Solem22]

Remember when tmudder had a weevil issue down there in florida year before last.  God i hope it's not that! 

This is the first thing I thought of after reading the OP. I hope it's not that either! 

 

[PepperLover]

i am sorry to hear that elcap1999
beside the previous suggestions, there are other reasons why pods fall.
irrigation,fertilizer, heat:  too much, too little 
how does the plant look? yellow, green, healthy.
a pic may help more.
 
most of the sometimes pods are falling because of the stress the plants are facing.
 
change the process of feeding, watering, and location and you should be just fine .

 

[SadisticPeppers]

Abject apologies for not replying to this before, but I can confirm it is in fact weevils. I literally caught one red-handed on a pod, and as the saying goes, where there's one insect, there's many more. I'll be getting lots and lots of ladybugs to get rid of these pesky buggers (no pun intended) ASAP since for the last several days, I've been bringing in pods by the handful that have fallen off the plants...Thankfully I still have lots of pods on the plants, and they're otherwise OK.