Hi Olga!

Never seen anything like that. It almost looks like edema. Have you sprayed anything on them?

Yes, mites are a problem here in SoCal, but it appears you have some sort of decent biocontrol going on with the one pic.

Might be russet mites, but that's a total guess. I'm almost willing to bet that it isn't pest related. And yes, there are many mites that need a magnifier to be visible

Try posting the pics in the garden clinic forum if you don't get a good answer here..maybe even the veggy forum.

Good luck.

Kevin

Thanks a lot for your suggestions, Kevin!

I'm kind of relieved to hear, it's not a most common and obvious end to my plants :)
Looking at pictures online I doubt it's edemia, though. Edema doesn't seem to show as bumps on fruit, which are way more obvious on my plants, than those on the leaves. And my leaves have some kind of little bubbles on the underside, that also show slightly on the surface. They don't show these kind of crystals growing on them, as edema seems to cause:
Edema in Peppers

Over- or underwatering might be a problem, though, as might be the ph of the soil. It's very clayey soil and it's a little hard for me to know how much to water the plants. I guess, I am keeping them on the dry side, though as I usually water deep about 1x week only and it hasn't rained for ever.
I didn't spray anything and I doubt any neighbors did.
Mite damage actually also seems to usually look so different from what I have:

Mite damage

So if it isn't pest related, what else might be happening to the plants? I am still hoping to hear some more ideas from hot pepper growers, as the same pests and deseases seem to have very different symptoms in different host plants? But I will try the garden clinic, if that seems more appropriate.

Oh no!

The plants kind of seem to be doing worse today or maybe I'm just paying more attention.

I am kind of fearing bacterial leaf spot. Although pictures look very different, the description seems to be just right and he plants might look like the pictures of bacterial leaf spot soon.

Has anybody had BLS on their plants and comment on the hypothesis of this being an early infection?

„Bacterial Leaf Spot

Xanthomonas vesicatoria causes
bacterial leaf spot on the leaves and fruit of peppers. The spots on young
leaves are small, yellowish green, and slightly raised on the

undersides of the leaves. They often
havean oily appearance. On older leaves, the spots are first dark,
water-soaked, and not noticeably raised. These spots enlarge and have straw-colored
centers with dark margins. Severely spotted leaves turn yellow and drop.

On the fruit, small blister-like,
irregular spots may be one-fourth of an inch in diameter. These spots later
turn brown and develop a warty appearance“

where did you get your seed from?

If it is indeed BLS, I've read that copper sulfate does a pretty good job of holding it at bay for a season. At least long enough to get production out of the plant)s). However, after this season, I would pull the plants and start anew.

Another note: wait until the heat wave is over. before treating with any fungicide/pesticide. A general rule is spray in morns or evenings and never spray when temps are >90F and/or the sum of the temp and humidity is >140.

Watering sounds ok. I water deeply about every ten days, and I have the DG and clay also. BUT, the clay is a good 2 feet down... my plots are raised and have been well amended for years.

Another idea is to check out http://c2cpeppers.proboards.com/ Many of the old time growers moved over there when gardenweb merged with Houzz.

Good luck.

Kevin

You are great, Kevin. Thanks a bunch.

I am still hoping for someone to tell me this is NOT bacterial and the plant will indeed survive whatever they are having but it is good to know, that even bacterial spot wouldn't necessarily be the immediate end to them.

Funny, that this little pepper problem seems to be staying in the San Diego area :)

Oh, I bought the seeds at a nursery. They should have been fine, I guess...

Not me. I'm in Santee and I've never seen it. BLS is normally seed-borne though iirc. I've had lesions like that before but it's usually at the end of the season. I lose all the foliage and just pull the plant since it;s not going to do too much all winter. Hasn't happened to me in quite a few years, though and i never did get an answer myself. Totally different thing than what your pics show though. The pimply fruit is new to me.

"Oh, I bought the seeds at a nursery. They should have been fine, I guess..."

One would think, but not out of the question for vendors to NOT treat seeds for pathogens.