black blotches on young bell pepper plant

Please help!! I am so new to gardening.

I grew my bell pepper plants from seed (now 47 days old) and I have noticed black blotches on them; they are in 5-inch Jiffy pots with Miracle Grow potting mix and average about 3 inches tall with 6-7 leaves. I found a photo at the link below which look like my leaves WITHOUT THE YELLOW DOTS. A few days ago I found what I am pretty sure were thrip bugs. At first, I saw bright yellow ones (about 1 mm) then orange ones. I killed them by squashing the pests between my fingers, checking the plants (bell pepps and tomatoes) every hour; I think I killed no more than 15 total among 12 or so plants. Then, I read somewhere to spray the foliage with a mixture of water, vinegar and dish liquid. All 6 of my pepper plants have the black blotch; the tips of several leaves appear to have dead tissue as well. The leaves are otherwise not disfigured and the stems appear healthy (with some purple coloring which may have been from over-watering).

I have not added any fertilizer other than what is in the MG potting mix. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!!

http://s1107.photobucket.com/albums/h397/kahuna_ashley/Sweet%20Bell%20Pepper%20Plant/?action=view¤t=5-14-112.jpg

The pic below was taken a day before the black blotches appeared:

Hmmm... I thought vinegar was meant to kill weeds, which means it could kill your peppers.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will know the answer.

i know the yellow spots on your photobucket picture is problably from watering them too much. my outdoor garden plants have them when i water them late in the afternoon, but because of our humidity, they form yellow spots. i work whats called canadian shiftwork, so i water when i can depending on whqt shift i work.

next time try water, a few drops of hydrogen peroxide and a couple of drops of dishliquid. that should take care of the gnat problem.

This message was edited Apr 12, 2012 1:06 PM

@synsfun...the photobucket picture was the only one i could find with the black blotches...NOT MY PLANT.

I just took pictures of my bell pepp problem: the first four pics. The last pic is of a snack tomato hybrid showing similar leaf tip issues, but no black blotches. WHAT COULD BE WRONG WITH THEM???? SOLUTIONS???

I unpotted one of the bell pepps and the roots looked great: white and not root-bound...no bugs in potting mix and all smelled fine. I've only watered deeply every 6 to 7 days when the pots felt very light-weight.

Again, I did find thrip bugs as mentioned in my first post....so not sure if they were carrying some type of virus/bacteria.

I am heart-broken because I've taken such care over the last 45 odd days. I've resolved that if my seedlings don't pan out, i'll just go buy a few plants at a garden store. THANKS FOR THE HELP IN ADVANCE.......

well, aside from that one leaf, your pepper plant looks extremely healthy. i say keep doing what you're doing and i think you're plant will turn out just fine.

pquinene - thrips will suck leaves, which could be the cause of the tips looking as they do. Once you get rid of the thrips, your plants should be fine.

Thrips can get into the house through screens, on clothes, on the dog/cat. They are especially problematic when trees are in bloom.