Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
poultrygeist

Bell pepper problems (sun scald?) and poblano woes

poultrygeist
12 years ago

Hi Veggie People, this is my first time growing anything more exciting than tomatoes, so please forgive my newbieness.

I have several bell pepper plants, and while a couple bells are looking good, a few have developed light brown and/or shriveled areas. Here's a picture of two of the affected bell peppers; the inset picture at the bottom is of two healthy-looking specimens on the same plant.

{{gwi:96825}}

The following pictures are of a single pepper I removed and dissected to check for any creepy crawlies living inside. It looks like no one had made it a home. Does (did) this pepper have the same issue?

{{gwi:96826}}

Is this an example of sun scald? I've been covering my plants with cheesecloth, because I read peppers are susceptible to just that problem and with the hot and sunny weather (duh, summer) some of the leaves had previously been getting sunburned on these and other plants.

Do I need to cut off the affected peppers so the plant can put its energy into new growth/fruit, or is the damage on the first two peppers not too bad? I noticed what looked like a spot of mold starting to grow on the pepper which I cut open, so of course I don't want any nasties using injured peppers as a point of infection for the plant as a whole.

Thank you!

P.S. What is up with my poblano pepper plant? It's maybe 2 feet tall, and it makes buds like a champion--but they rarely open into flowers and so far all have fallen off without making tasty fruit (a couple got to smaller-than-a-pea-sized, but that's it!) What gives?! The plants are in containers filled with a potting soil mix.

Comments (4)