While most of the peppers we have are growing rather nicely, a blight has hit a pair of plants that we don’t know what it is. The pepper you see above is one of our Sandia peppers that has been rotting on its stem for a few days now. We are a bit stumped, but some ideas come to mind. One thing, though, is that these peppers are not laying on the dirt/ground, so not likely to be due to the sort of moisture/fungi/bacteria that afflicts vegetation that just lays around. We suspect that the peppers that look like this are suffering from sunscald, but need some help to see if anyone else can confirm this.
Anyone else care to comment on what this might be? If sunscald, might anyone suggest what could be done with these plants to eliminate this from the current growth?
Thanks!
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Nope, that’s not sun sculd. That’s either bottom end rot, or the roots of the plant are too wet. Also, that pepper could be “over ripened”. When left ripe on the vine and not picked, the fruit can rot.
Comment fired by Jonathan Passow — July 22, 2007- 1:21 pm
I thought blossom end-rot was more for peppers that are laying on the ground where the bugs & such live. These peppers were still hanging on the stems. I might buy the over-ripened notion, as these green peppers were starting to turn a little red…which they should be picked when green.
Comment fired by Joe & Linda — July 22, 2007- 2:05 pm
Jonathan has it about right- that is blossum end rot, the bane of larger peppers. They don’t need to be lying on the ground to get that. Lots of discussion over what causes it, mostly believed to be due to uneven moisture levels (too wet & then too dry) and/or a magnesium and/or calcium deficiency. Watch your watering levels based ont eh *soil* conditions (not the plant) and try a fertilizer with some epsom salts (research on line suggested for the amounts). You can still salvage the plants- but discard any of the chiles showing symptoms and see it the next set does better.
Comment fired by Jim- StepUpForCharity.org — July 22, 2007- 9:12 pm