I made the mistake of starting off my first batch of pepper in a very dense Black Gold potting mix and I believe it's likely choking the roots and keep them from properly absorbing nutrients as all of them (Save for one that was heavily amended with perlite and cinder) have been a light green for their whole lives. The difference compared to the younger plants grown in lighter mixes is like night and day.
The thing I'm wondering is whether or not I should try to remove the soil from the roots using a gentle stream of water before transplanting or if it'll be fine if I just dump the whole plug in a bigger pot filled with better soil. I already did so for one of the plants, but it hasn't shown any signs of improvement after a week, which is bothering me since it's just begun to put out its first fruits and is dropping both new leaves and flower buds.
The thing I'm wondering is whether or not I should try to remove the soil from the roots using a gentle stream of water before transplanting or if it'll be fine if I just dump the whole plug in a bigger pot filled with better soil. I already did so for one of the plants, but it hasn't shown any signs of improvement after a week, which is bothering me since it's just begun to put out its first fruits and is dropping both new leaves and flower buds.