hi! I'm back. Finally. Our pepper plants have some black on one of them. Also the smaller peppers are turning black. I have a pic somewhere but I'll have to post it when I can. Thank you for the ideas. I will show my gardens so you can see what might be going on.
I have had this happen to me before too...I just disposed of the plants because it seemed to be like a rot. It got soft and the outer limbs got mushy and limp. Good Luck. I hope someone here can give you some ideas or a cure.
Might be black cankers caused by fusarium, a fungal disease. You can keep it from spreading to other parts of the plant by pruning and sterilize the cutters before re-using them. Overhead watering and planting too close are two main situations that bring on the disease. Welcome back, by the way. Hope the storms this Spring haven't affected you and yours.
Thanks. I don't know how to prune the peppers. Not sure it is probable? (See photos please) can I? Do I pinchoff the black peppers? I was wondering if the soil is to rich? It's mirical grow garden soil and that is all. Tomatoes are growing really well but I saw a couple of brown spots on the bottom of acouple. Spring sure has watered us good, that's for sure! Hoping all my fellow gardeners are doing well!
What variety of peppers are these ? If either a hot banana type or a jalapeno those dark streaks on the peppers can be normal. I have grown them and had both types do the same. Does not affect taste except they can be hotter than those without the dark streaks !! I have no idea why they do this but some have the streaks and some do not. I am in Texas so our weather and conditions are similar except my peppers are in the garden soil. The brown spots on your tomatoes is likely blossom end rot. Either add a tablespoon of epsom salts worked into the soil around each plant before watering or a tablespoon of epsom salts in about a two quarts water can be used as a foliar feed and sprayed on the leaves. Will not help the tomatoes that have the spot now but will prevent future end rot.
Peppers with healthy looking spots that are firm and shiny and normal looting are fine the spots are actually a very dark purple color and just occur on some peppers. If your spots are soft, kinda fuzzy and not the same feeling as the rest of the peppers thats another problem. The epsom salt treatment mentioned above would work well on the peppers as well.
After reading especially Toni's and Mart's contributions I cannot add much. I agree with them. It is certainly true that having black spots at the joints on the stems is a normal occurrence on healthy bell pepper plants. Having said that, if the plant is suffering with a Phytophthora type or a Fusarium fungus...it is not normal and presents a dangerous presence with respect to your other plants. I also notice that some of your plants leaves have brown spots and are yellowing. You see, if the infection on the stem has made it all the way around the stem itself, then its presence will inhibit and eventually block all upward movement of nutrients from the roots...this is why there is yellowing and wilting present. The leaves and stem segment above the infection site are starving, as it were--no water and no "food"... it follows that they will thus die eventually. I am in favour of removing and destroying (in an isolated and thorough fashion including plastic bags and disposable plastic gloves) the infected plants and fruits as the best method of protecting your other plants. Toni's suggestion to then sterilize the clippers (if you use them instead of just lifting the plants). You could use any number of chemical agents to sterilize your secateurs, but I just pour boiling water over mine when I make tea. I also have a propolis solution that I use to paint the inside of my bee hives that I could use if I wanted. Of course you could prune the pepper plants, but personally I would always have the uneasy feeling that the problem was not completely solved and that there might be some residual infecting agents left in the remaining plant(s) that would infect neighbouring plants. These two diseases are not something that I take lightly and always deal with their presence in a radical manner. I am a small-time gardener living in an area with a short growing season so I cannot afford spreading crop losses. Additionally, I do not want my problem to spread to my gardening neighbours. Discovering the bron of this problem that you have may not be possible. It could be airborne, in your commercial soil, on your hands or gloves...I mean, the possibilities are numerous or could be a combination of several. I suppose that you must simply accept that you have it, remove the sick plants and begin again. did you plant those bell pepper plants from seed, or did you buy small plantlets from a garden centre to get started? The season is in its infancy, why not plant more. I would use some seeding soil (which allows good drainage), I would plant them on into a mix of garden soil from your garden and a different type of bagged commercial soil. Further, I would not water your plants too often and with too much water. I know, that is vague...but how can I cay how much water in cm's? You just have to eyeball it. One tip is to not give them more water than the soil in their pots can absorb. Tja miss--I did not mean to waffel-on so. I was only going to say a couple of words, ach--perhaps the extra words will be helpful to you. Good luck there.
Thank you for your replies! My garden is doing a little better since we got some sunshine and a day off of rain. Still have black peppers but also some yummy red ones.