I just looked at the first 4-5 photos. That does look a bit pathetic. My concerns would be how much moisture they have been getting. Since you are in Illinois, I am not sure if you have had as much rain as we have had up a bit further north or not, but it could be too much moisture. The other issue might be your fertilizers. A lot of the time, in ground with decent soil, you need little to no extra nutrients. You might have over done it by tilling in the fertilizer into the soil. The 12-12-12 ratio might be a bit high on the P and K parts. Normally people use ferts that a bit higher in the N than the P and K.
There isn't a whole lot you can do now since your plants are already planted unless you wanted to pull all or some and try then in containers for the rest of the season. But it sounds like something happened since last year since you said you had good luck in that spot in prior years.

The curling leaves could be a number of things but fertilizer burn could be one of them...Pests or virus's also can do that.
I hope someone else has a bit more guidance for you.
Keep us posted on how it turns out.
Bruce

How does one see the pics?

Josh

Josh: Highlight the link, right-click, select Open Link. Or copy and paste the link to your address bar.

Ncage: You mentioned grass clippings. Any chance the grass had been treated with Weed and Feed, or any other herbicide use in the area?

Dave, that was the first thing I tried yesterday. No links present, so I copied the address. Takes me to a 404 File directory not found. I tried the last address in the list, pasted it, and it opened....to a sideways image.

Good luck!

Josh,
here is how it works on my computer. I am using Chrome browser. It works in Firefox as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Opening links in browser

Yeah, it works in Firefox, but the pics load very slowly. Skip down - the first few images are almost identical.

ncage, I agree with Bruce on most of what he says. I will emphasize that the happy plants looks fine and you should just let them do their thing - with NO MORE ferts.

The others obviously don't like the soil. I think you should dig them, knock off most of the soil, and transfer them into containers with a good commercial potting mix. Then let them go for about a month with no further intervention.

Peppers are tough and if you give them better conditions they will show results. Besides better plants, if they look better you will know that you have a problem with your garden soil. Fortunately soil is self-curing and letting it lie fallow for a year should make it much better next year.

I understand the frustration, but don't give up the ship. And do try to rein in your natural (and understandable) desire to make your garden soil "better". It don't always work the way you intend.

Good luck,
Dennis

I would almost bet that you have herbicide contamination in your garden. Either from grass clippings that were treated with weed and feed, soil treated with herb., etc. Over fert. "could" be the cause also. Leave "curl" like that is a indication of contamination of some kind. Overwatering should not cause leaf curl like that IMO....

Has the corn growing nearby been sprayed with roundup? Pesticide drift might be the problem.

Also, if you bought topsoil the year the problem started, that soil might have been contaiminated. It happened to a co-worker, and to others in his community, when he bought a load of topsoil from a nursery.