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Do pods turn brown/black before ripening?

6

6StringFire

I have a Carolina Reaper with green pods all over it. They're beginning to turn a brown, almost black color.

I was starting to get concerned - but I just read that's normal before they ripen?

Is that true or did I unknowingly damage my plants?

If you hadn't already guessed, this is my first year of growing super hot peppers. Thanks for you patience with my novice question.
 
Oeew, Coheed you might be right. I pulled them into partial shade (here in FL) because in my amateur hunch was they were beginning to burn.

TXCG, a good online image service is on my list of to-dos so I can't post them, yet. I have other hobbies that I needed it for, but it's like a necessity here.
PepperDaddler said:
Just how dark are they getting?
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Looking again this morning, I want to say its almost like a purple brown. Black was an overstatement on my part. My only glimmer of hope is a couple pods are turning a nice orange / red but can't determine if that's new growth or previously purple browned pods.

I feel like I'm on the verge of a major success or a major disappointment.

More specifically, the tops of the pods (as opposed the middle or tails) are turning this color.
 
PepperDaddler said:
Looks like suntan. It'll be alright.
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Thanks so much. I assume you mean I shouldn't sweat it (pardon the pun).... so, I'll relax.

If there are measures I can take to help tha plant along, feel free to educate me. I pulled them into a partial shade section of the house... meaning the porch which gets 1/2 day full blown Florida sun and past noon prolly just the reflections.

You rock!
 
I probably have the exact same conditions as you. On front porch partial shade/full blown sun. I see that the purpling seems to speed up ripening time, but dont quote me on that.
 
Grow mine  in NE FL. Hot as hell here, gotta be hot where you are.
 
PepperDaddler said:
I probably have the exact same conditions as you. On front porch partial shade/full blown sun. I see that the purpling seems to speed up ripening time, but dont quote me on that.
 
Grow mine  in NE FL. Hot as hell here, gotta be hot where you are.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, same hot arse boat here.
 
I may invest in some sunshade/screen and dedicate some area in the yard.
 
Thanks for the advice!!!
 
Yea i was right, it's just a plants version of sunscreen. That actually prevents them from getting burnt. There's nothing I know of that you can do to prevent it, but why would you? It's protecting your pods. Believe me, you don't want them to get sun scald, which does ruin pods
If you take a pod that's been shaded by leaves and put it in full sun where it doesn't have time to produce that sunscreen, you will see a truly burnt pod. It's not pretty
 
Coheed, when you say "why would I try to prevent it" are you also sorta suggesting this is good for the plant/pods? Knowing that would probably save me $$ trying to correct a problem that might actually be a benefit?
 
Exactly, I'm saying it is definitely good for your pods. If you Google Pepper sun scald You will see what would happen if your pods didn't produce that protective coloring. Like if you have a super bushy, leafy, plant that has pods on it. Well if you were to strip all of the leaves off and expose all of those pods to hot direct sun, they would get sun scald (turn white/be ruined), the pods that are turning purpleish have more than likely grew on a part of the plant that wasn't exactly shaded and have had time to "realize" they are in the sun and therefore produced their sun screen
 
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