there is a very active pepper forum ...

w/o pix.. your guesses are as good as mine ...

it really doesnt concern me much.. when the lowest.. oldest leaves.. on any plant ..... yellow ...

to me.. its all about what the growth points are doing... its when those start looking funky ... thats when you have problems ...

did you have blight.. before you sprayed ...???

ken

Thanks for the input. I searched, but couldn't find a dedicated pepper forum. Saw no signs of blight on the peppers, only yellow, dropping leaves. I'll take a photo tomorrow.

Chances are really good that they ran short of water some days ago. If temps are still very high, rig some temporary shade at least a foot or more above them.

The pepper forum is called the Hot Pepper Forum. It's here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/pepper

How saturated is the soil these plants are growing in? Pull the mulch back and look. Usually raised beds drain quite well but with that much water that quickly even a raised bed could become water saturated and plant roots do need some air to help uptake necessary soil nutrients.

kimmq is kimmsr

Thank you all for your advice. Here are a few photos. Tam Jalapeno, Hot Zavory, The Godfather and Tiburon Poblano, in that order. The Godfather is dropping leaves the worst. The beds are very wet. I believe there are signs of blight. Today, I pulled back the mulch to give it a chance to dry out a bit. Short of pulling up the plants (and what would I do with them then?), I'm at a loss at what to do. I've never had the problem of too much rain.

You never know with gardening...a month from now I may be crying for rain.

Dropbox link to photos

General feedback not at all specifically related to pepper plants...

I would pull the mulch back from the stems a bit.

Covering the ground with newspaper could be causing the water to shed to the edges, before it's able to soak into the ground, depending on the level of its' decomposition at this point. If it's close to stems, pulling that back a bit too could help water penetrate the root zone.

Any time mulch is added to a spot where there was none before, there can be a "nitrogen robbing" effect the first year, until the decomposition process gets going. Fertilizer with a higher 1st number can help combat that. This would be something I'd ask the "pepper people" about.

The compost could have been a little "hot" to be in the root zone (vs. just on the surface.) Much less risk of burning roots when this is applied to surface vs. dug in or tilled under. Wasn't sure from your phrasing which you did, may or may not be applicable to your pictured plants.

Next year you'll be glad if this year, you finish the smothering you've started by pulling those little grass & any other unwanted sprouts that have managed to get going, while they're still small, before they make & drop new seeds, to break the cycle.

On this page that lists all of the forums:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums

One can find hot peppers:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/pepper

And general forum for all veggies:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/cornucop

There's probably a forum for your local area too, not sure which one would be the best match from just "northeast." Let me know if you need help deciding!

Thank you for all the excellent information. I should correct my terminology....I don't have raised beds.....I have raised ROWS. I paid a visit to the gardens this morning and the first thing I did was remove ALL the mulch and newspaper. I started all, with the exception of Hot Zavory, from seed and I hate the thought of them dying.

The garden is wet from all the rain and even more so under the mulch. Now, if it would only stop raining for a week, or so.

I take heed of your advice regarding the woodchips.

N Larson, try to create a ridge & furrow effect. You may have to compost the material that you remove from the area between the rows - the inter-row. Hopefully the water that collects in the inter-row can be drained away. Peppers belong to the same family as tomatoes; which benefit from a "molding up". This practice encourages adventitious roots quite high up the stem of tomatoes. Drainage / aeration is the operative concept.

Thank you, everyone, for your help.

ronalawn82...If I understand you correctly, you're saying remove material between the plant and the "path," and, at the same time, build up dirt around the base of the plant's trunk so roots can develop up the plant's trunk? So it would be: path, row, trough, plant, trough, row, path. I have already done some of that, in a sense, carving out little troughs around each plant in an attempt to expose more ground area to sun and wind. Yesterday was a good day...bright sun, low 80s, a good stiff breeze all day, NO RAIN and none in the forecast for the next 5 days!

Here is the garden.

The peppers are at the lower right corner which is, actually, the high end (elevation wise) of the garden, on either side of the water tank. The plot is on a downward slope, with the peppers on the high end. I dug a foot-wide trench on one side to help carry excess water away, which it is doing. Looking at the plan, I just had a thought....the plants showing the most stress are the ones closest to two copper ground rods I am using as hose-minders in front of the tank. Could the copper be a contributing factor, along with the excess rain?

Nancy

No idea about an answer to your question, but wanted to say WOW to your planning! Wow!

Tiffany,

Thanks you for the compliment! I grew up in PA Amish farm country and now live on the edge of a wooded area that has more critters and less sunlight than any garden needs or deserves. Hence, the community garden plot. Yes, a lot of thought did go into planning. It satisfies my inner artist, inner gardener and inner chef. It is a lovely place to be and makes me happy.

N Larson, yes! Except that the path would be spaced to facilitate cultural work - in practice twice your 'reach'. If you can reach across 3 ridges, then you can lay out a path every 6 ridges. Depending upon the crop, you can use a furrow / trough as the path. My recommendations are framed against a background of commercial agriculture; where every available square inch is made productive.

Well, the rains have eased up, at least for the time being, and the peppers are getting a chance to dry out. They are definitely looking happier. As bad as The Godfather looks, he's still producing fruit. And, the rest are all flowering and budding! There may be a harvest this summer, after all! Thanks for all the advice and tips.