all my plants are healthy. Last year I planted some store bought peppers in May, but they did bad until the weather got hot. So this year I planted the peppers late. They have just started producing now.

I am in central NJ and usually have great peppers but plants have not done well this year. However, a big part of my problem this year is an explosion of neighborhood rabbits and voles.....one or both of which have been severely pruning the plants!

Definitely not the best gardening year in north NJ with this el nino weather pattern. Pepper plants do not like the cool evenings at all, and any heavy rain during these cool evenings only make things worse.

But, since i've had issues with peppers and disease for many years now, i spray pre-emptively with copper-sulfate or Serenade, which treats many bacterial and fungal pathogens. I spray about every 10 to 14 days, usually after a rain storm. This allows my plants to grow full size and keeps the disease at a low level (it is extremely hard to fully eradicate once it sets in).

Steve