Identifying possible causes of struggling peppers

Question

I'm a little worried about a few of my pepper plants, but I'm not certain what's wrong (or what to do about it).

I got these pretty late in the season this year and they were almost this size when I planted them (about 2 weeks ago now). When I first planted them, a few of them lost some of their lower leaves (Jalepeno - front center, Bananas - back center, and anaheim - back right). The leaves have stopped falling off and you can see that the jalepenos and banana peppers have perked up - I even have a banana pepper growing. However, the anaheim in the back right still looks really droopy.

We've been getting a fair amount of rain, so I haven't been watering with a hose. I check the soil moisture by hand twice a day and if an inch down feels dry I run the soaker hose. Any chance I'm still under/over watering? Anything else I could be non thinking of?

Answer 1

Patience, more than I typically can muster? Peppers can be slow to get started. They really like heat. A summer that starts cool and wet can put them into what isn’t, but feels to me, like complete hibernation. Your plants look beautiful!

One way that helps me judge plant growth is to think of it as a multiple of the existing size of the plant, rather than total height or overall mass. If an annual vegetable gains a good portion again of its meager height in several weeks, it’s probably motoring along nicely.