I had been planting red chilies from day 1 since I started planting. I have not been able to grow them until they ripen and it is getting really frustrating. The last itme I experimented and planted 2 plants in pots and I managed to get some of the chilies to ripened. With the seed from the ripened chilies from the pot, I planted another 2plants in the ground and they grew beautifully. Chili ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) The plant is healthy with no pest and lots of chilies. Lots of Chilies ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) There are lots of fruits but none of them will be able to ripen. Chili ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) Before the chili could ripen, it will turn yellow around the stem and the chili itself will start to have soft brown patches. Any idea what is causing this. I have the same problem with bell pepper too!!
Have you tried thinning the foliage a bit to let the fruit get more sunlight? If you remove some foliage, but not enough to cause sun scald, it may help. I had to do this with bell peppers last summer--they were supposed to ripen to a lovely golden color and they insisted on staying green until I pinched off some leaves. I still got only a few yellow bells--I didn't get smart soon enough!
Hiyah KK-- I learned that the most common cause of chillies not ripening was due to a too short growing season. I noticed that your plant is standing in the shade. Next time I would suggest that you plant your peppers where they willget the maximum of sunlight--perhaps this will give the plant the idea that conditions are not too cool or allow it to reach a full-term life cycle. The brown spots on the fruits are troubling to hear about. This could well be bacterial. This may be due to poor seed quality. Did you buy your seeds or harvest them yourself from previous peppers that you have grown? The yellowing of the stems is also a curious thing. I have seen that with coolness, too much water and too little. I finally had to grow mine in a greenhouse in order to have a milieu that I could better control. BTW--the next time that you find a fruit with a yellow stem and brown spots, would you take a foto of it and then post that? I am curious.
Marlingardener, yes I had tried thinning the foilage and growing them in full sunlight before. Maybe I'll try thinning the foilage again. Hi Sojerd, the growing season here is not a problem I am sure you know that we can grow them all year round. I took the pictures around 6pm so the plants was in the evening shade and I had planted them in full sunlight before. The yield is not a problem but getting the fruits to ripen is. I had the same suspicion concerning the brown spots and bacteria or virus. I got the seeds from the chilies that Becky bought from Tesco and this is the second batch from the original Tesco source. I even thought of steaming the grow bed to sterilise it but it is too difficult to do and that is when I decided to grow it in a pot. The only different is that the soil temperature is higher in the pot than the soil in the ground. Could the higher soil temperature inhibit the bacteria or virus activity? The yield was very much less but I did get a handful of ripe fruits when planted in pots. Mysterious infection ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) This is one of the chilies that was infected. I think the infection only affect the fruits that were just about to ripen because smaller fruits do not get infected at all. Inside. ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) There is no creepy crawlies inside, just the flesh of the fruit like roting away. I have planted chilies many times and the seeds were either from Tesco or the wet market. Hmmm..... contaminated seeds? Maybe when I go to the seed shop next I might get myself some chili seeds and try it out.
That sure looks bacterial to me, KK. it might be a good idea to check every leaf to see if there asre brown spots on them as well. This will give you an idea of how systemic the prob is. If you find leaves involved, then you ought to consider yanking the plants and burning them. You may wind up doing this anyway. It is too bad that you don't have access to a lab to investigate this further. I don't like the looks of this, KK.
Guess you are right Sojerd. I have checked the leaves and removed those that have brown spot on them. I had also thinned out the foilage as Marlingardener suggested. My mum said that the farmers usually used lots of all the xxxxcides to get red chilies for the market and chances are very slim to get red chilies if we don't use it. This only affect the chilies and I'll harvest as much as the green chilies as I can before yanking them up and burning them. I am thinking of opening up a different grow bed and let it dry as much as possible in the sun before planting again. Would this help or is there any other ways to overcome this problem organically?
I think that making a whole new bed in some place that has sun the whole day(if possible). I think that if you plan your planting to coincide with the dry season there, your peppers would do better. Bacterial infections seem more prevalent when high humidity and rainfall are present. I do not think that I would plant peppers in this place again for a number of years, KK. I do not know of an organic way to rid your plants of this sickness, especially when it is so systemic. It is difficult to tell exactly what the insulting pathogen is--bacterial or viral...but it looks to be a bit advanced from your description. What a shame, mate.
Would covering the area with black plastic and baking it in the hit sun do anything to help? It works for weeds. Just wondering, Jerry
I am so sorry Jerry, I did not see your comment but I don't think it will work because earth is a great insulator of heat. First red chili on ground ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) I think mother nature provided a little assistance here in helping me to get red chilis from the plant on the ground. Yes this very red chili is from the very same tree that I wanted to yank it out and burn it. I had my hands around the main stem and was ready to yank it out when I noticed that a few cilantro popping up from the base around the chili plpants. If I yanked out the chili plant, the cilantro seedlings will definately follow but I wanted the cilantro to grow so I left it. It is kind of a strange because the cilantro that I plant is like way back in the backyard and I was wandering how did it get there! So instead of yanking out the chili, I decided to trim the foilage and spray my concotion of garlic, onion and soap hoping that it is just pest infestation. The day after I sprayed the plant, almost all the leaves dried up .... oops!! maybe too much soap. Anyway the cilantro grew beautifully and I had already enjoyed it with steam fish a couple of times. The cilantro is on the right of the red chili. The chili palnt then start to sprout new buds, then flowers, green chilis and now red .... yahoo!!!! The next chili plant I am going to plant, I am going to spray it with the same solution but milder mix and see if it works. I guess it must be some kind of real tiny pest at work.
If your mixture works a second time then it seems you have found a solution. If you document the formula then you will to have to remember next time. Jerry
It sounds like you could have just trimmed the pepper plant instead of killing the leaves. You might want to try trimming one of the plants next time and see if that works first and that way you won't have to spray it.
Jerry, yes I did document that formula and I sure do hope that was the solution. FlowerFreak, thanks for the suggestion and I'll keep it in mind.
This is great news, KK. I hope that you get enough peppers to save. Will you use them to make some Sambal?
Definitely Sojerd, now the sambal is almost completely from the mini-farm -lemongrass, tumeric, red chili - only the onions from TESCO!! Would you like some?
Hahaha...yes I would! I use sambal ulek often for things here, as well as other sorts. I add a bit of sambal ulek in the pedis dishes. It is hot enough for me.
