It's normal for the seed leaves to yellow and die off. But the regular leaves shouldn't yellow like some are. Probably too much water.

Yah, my seedlings always seem to be a bit more yellow than I would like. However, they come out just fine. Don't start dumping chemicals on them at this point. I would first listen to tsheets and ENSURE that you are not over watering. A common mistake. Here is a photo of some of my seedlings. They are a bit bigger than yours but still are on the yellowish side. I think it has more to do with artificial light than anything. They seem to get nice and green in the summer outside.
Oh, and notice the soil. See how dry it looks. Your soil should look this way before you consider watering.
Bruce

This post was edited by esox07 on Sun, Mar 10, 13 at 23:19

Thanks folks for taking the time to chime in! I'm new at growing hots & just couldn't decide why these were so pale......... As Bruce said, I'll avoid one's first inclination to add more fertilizer.

The reason they're pale is a lack of nutrients....

The question is why. It could be an actual deficiency or lack of available nutrients (considering that you've provided zero Nitrogen, I suspect this is likely). But as Tsheets and Bruce mentioned, too much moisture can cause a similar look - due to the fact that wet soils impair the ability of the roots to take up certain nutrients. The bottom line is lack of nutrients for some reason. And so we need to eliminate the variables.

If you are positive that the mix is drying appropriately and not harboring a saturated layer at the bottom of the container, then we can be fairly sure that a nutrient deficiency is at work.

I would test fertilize a couple seedlings with a soluble liquid fertilizer that provides all the essential nutrients. If the fertility of the mix is as low as I think it is, there should be noticeable results within days.

Josh

Josh, do you think my plants might need some nitro. I am confident that overwatering is not an issue?
Bruce

Thanks Josh! And you're spot on with your suspicion! I'm actually waiting for my TDS meter to arrive from Amazon, so there's no guess work ..... But yeah, they had just been watered in the pic........ No over watering here, just a lack of nutrients...........

Hey, Bruce and Cugal!
Bruce, they probably could use some nitrogen, just as mine could use some nitrogen (mine are a touch more yellow than I'd like). I would recommend doing a test fertilization on a couple seedlings. Out of curiosity, Bruce, how much have you fertilized so far?

Josh

I had similar problems. I considered the problems as lack of nutrients, small pots that cannot hold moisture longer ( the soil dry so fast and wet so fast).

{{gwi:1159806}}

I did fertilization and change the pots.

The soil is Al's 5:1:1 the circled plant is Ghost Yellow, seeds source is "pepperlover".

Caelian