yellow leaves, you can see here

another

this is another plant, with another issue it looks like, this has yellow spots on a few leaves. IIRC, spots = fungal / mold

its really hard to see in this pic, you probably cant see it, but the pepper plants are like a fainting green, probably turning yellow. They dont look good.

imagine, they started very very green, and began to fade over time. It looks like a watered down green, maybe even milky

Oh, just to give you an idea of how much water the soil was holding, i could ring out water from the soil when i replanted. at least half a cup of water in the solo cups

and, when i drilled extra holes in the cups to replant, water poured out.

with new soil, im 99.9 percent sure this has been solved.

Sounds like you made the 5-1-1 incorrectly, and were overwatering as well. One would never describe a properly made 5-1-1 as a wet sludge. A handful of 5-1-1 shouldn't stick together, but should readily fall apart.

How were you fertilizing the 5-1-1?

Josh

only used it for about 2 weeks, didnt use any ferts during that time other than the added MG slow release pellets added to the mix.

wet sludge is an accurate term for what i had.

I'm sure it is an accurate description of the mix you made...but the mix you made doesn't sound like 5-1-1.

Did you add 1 Tablespoon Dolomitic Lime per gallon of mix?

Lack of nutrients was most likely the culprit (not that your plants look bad, really). Either an actual deficiency, or an inability of the roots to take up nutrients due to an overly wet mix.

New growth on peppers is typically a pale color compared to mature growth. Your pepper looks quite good.

Josh

if you put holes in the cup and water came out that tells me that drain holes were not big enough in the first place.

Greenman is spot on... a nutrient problem. Possible nitrogen deficiency. Also, dolomite lime should be added to the soil. These will be ready for re-potting soon. Add it then. That's my 2 cents...