Peppers & Margarites - the same malady?

I'm growing my peppers in the polytunnel this year - first time - as well as outside and they've been fine and strong but I noticed two in the tunnel were looking odd and smaller than the rest so I got them out.  Now another is starting to look the same - photo below.  I don't know what it is and there are no pests on them and I've checked the soil beneath the two I took out and there was nothing there either.  Good root system on both.  The peppers outside are slightly smaller but are fine.

Coincidentally, in another part of the garden, well away from the polytunnel, a patch of margarites which I grew from seed are showing the same symptoms.  There is a patch of about 25 or so and over the course of a week almost all are starting to look like the photo below. Margarites planted in other parts of the garden and from the same pack of seeds are fine.

Help anyone?

Here are the pepper leaves

 and here are the Margarite leaves

 I don't mind if the Margarites have to come up but I would hate to lose all the pepper plants as we eat a lot and they are so easy to freeze and store.

Doesn't anyone know what's wrong with these?  My garden book tells me they should be easy.   I'm sad

Here is happy Marguerite

 Here is poorly Marguerite

 Is it curtains for the latter and my peppers?

Have either of you manured your ground?

Hi Alina - 

The happy Marguerites are in a new bed which has really poor soil and I put in some old cow manure and compost about a month before planting it up.  The poorly Ms are in an old bed which was weeded out completely about the same time but nothing was added to boost the soil as there is quite a lot of leaf mould from a nearby oak tree. 

The peppers in the tunnel are in a raised bed with rotted cow manure at the bottom and my own compost on top.  They get fed with tomato fertilizer when I feed the tomatoes which are in raised beds either side of the peppers.

So, there's no real connection.

No, it doesn't sound like it - I was thinking of horse manure contaminated with aminopyralid, which has been killing people's vegetables for a few years now.

I use cow manure for two reasons.  1) is that I know a farmer who has so much muck from keeping his cows in barns during winter that it keeps at least 2 villages going - fabulous stuff and 2) it only takes 1 year before it is usable instead of the usual 2 for horse manure. 

Oh yes, thirdly, it's free....

Hello Robot,

Some viruses can do this. They can easily be spread by aphids, feeding on the plants, so you really don't have much control over whether your plant is infected or not. It's very annoying, especially when something you really value has been attacked.

Emma

gardenersworld.com team

Oh well.  C'est la vie .

My peppers are looking exactly the same and I'm growing them in my greenhouse in a grow bag. Please, any advice as we love peppers.

Janice, I've been doing a bit of an experiment by holding back on the water and feed for the peppers and they seem to be looking better.  I certainly haven't lost any more.  I read that they don't particularly like to be over watered or fed so perhaps the tomato feed I gave them - and your grow bag - are a bit too rich for them. Mine are producing their little fruits now so fingers crossed.

The Marguerites still look the same but they are growing and producing flower buds so I've left them alone. 

Like you, we love peppers and I try to grow as many as I can as they freeze so well - no blanching and faffing about.