dapud
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Dark spots on pepper seedlings

This is my first time growing pepper plants. Starting them indoors. The plants in the photos are exactly one month old. I'm concerned mostly about the dark spots on the leaves.

I'm thinking these plants are getting too much water, or light, or both?

I have been bottom watering for ~15-20 minutes about 4 times a week (and draining the excess)
I made my own starter mix from equal parts sand, peat moss, and vermiculite
The room that these plants are in stays at least 70 degrees constantly
The lights have been around 4-6 inches from the tray, and they are each 1600 lumen lights (2 of them).
The lights have been on for 14-16 hours a day including sunny days
The window is Southwest facing, but it hasn't been too sunny here in Upstate NY so most of the light would have come from the lamps

Any thoughts from someone more experienced would be appreciated!
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applestar
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Those look like seedlings for some varieties that have either dark/Antho in the leaves, stems, or dark (purple/black) colored fruits and purple rather than white blossoms.

Are you growing any of that type?

...I was trying to find you a good example.... Look at the photo below. If you click on the link to that thread, there are a whole bunch of pictures from that time period and you may be able to spot other examples for comparison —
Subject: Applestar’s 2018 Tomatoes (and peppers ...maybe eggplants)
applestar wrote:
Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:05 pm
Here’s an interesting pepper I’m growing for fun because friend sent me the seeds. It’s called Rain Forest Variegata ... and it is starting to display the faint light spots that is the beginning of variegation in the foliage. Typically, variegation starts showing up on 2nd or 3rd set of true leaves, so this one is precocious. :-()

Image

dapud
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Each tray is indeed a different variety. Photo #4 is showing the Jalepenos who have the dark spots the worst. Photo #3 is showing Mini Sweet Bell Peppers

pepperhead212
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Welcome to the forum!

I was thinking the same thing that applestar said - that it's a natural variation of the color, and I've had this happen with some varieties that didn't even have purple leaves in the mature plants. The color just disappeared, once outside. Those plants look fine, otherwise, and I wouldn't worry about it.

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TomatoNut95
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I grew Black Hungarian pepper and the seedlings were a dark, purplish color. If the fruit is black, the foliage will have a dark tinge.

imafan26
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Could this be a phosphorus problem?

It could be the lighting, but the seedlings look a little yellow and purplish stems and leaves are usually signs of phosphorus deficiency. While seeds have enough food in them start the seeds for the first couple of weeks, once the true leaves come in, they need to start getting some fertilizer especially if there is no fertilizer in the seedling mix. I usually go with 1/4 strength water soluble fertilizer every one or two weeks and transplant them when they have a good root system and about 4 true leaves. I grow my seedlings outside so I never really see yellow leaves.



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