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Pod rot?

R

RJC

No pictures...yet.

But I've got several of my Anaheim pods getting this brown smear on them? Starts near the tip and is moving up the inward part of the pepper towards the top of the pod. It basically happened the past two-days after we had a cool spell. Now it's hot. To the touch the areas are a little soft:(

Pepper blossom-end rot is what I'm guessing.

What do you do to control it? They were some nice big peppers too!
 
Im no expert but I believe that lack of calcium in the soil is the main cause of BER. I would guess that a complete fertilizer would help, as a lot of forms of calcium have to break down in the soil to be used by a plant. Please don't take my advice as gospel as there are far smarter people on here than I am, just my thoughts.
 
Blossom End Rot can happen even if the soil is loaded with calcium. BER which is caused by a lack of calcium in the plant, means there is a problem with the uptake of calcium due to too many other nutrients, infrequent watering or too high/too low pH.

I say, check the pH and make sure it's within 6.5 and 6.8, if you suspect over feeding then go ahead and flush the pot a few times and check pH, adjust with Vinegar or Lime or whatever, then refeed and do not water untill the soil is dry again.
 
Thanks guys,

I've been coffee blending egg shells and adding to the dirt for extra calcium. My gut tells me it's the watering for some reason. Cool and no water for a few days, then BAM very hot and the plants can't get enough water. This is only one plant but I sure the heck don't want to see it on my super-hots.

Thanks for passing the knowledge.

RJC
 
i'm having this on one of my fish pepper crosses. none of the other plants though. from what i've been reading, it's almost a genetic thing stemming from the plant's ability to take in calcium. so all the info here he good and accurate, but it also seems like it's a genetic abnormality in some varieties.
 
Eggshells release calcium VERY slowly, a bit like slow release fertilizer pellets, and with a high pH it's even slower.

Get some garden lime or dolomite lime, it should release calcium much faster. I'd check the soil pH first though, because if it's already high you will make things worse.
 
BER will often just go away if your soil moisture stabilizes. Maybe try adding compost or mulch. Some say that a foliar feeding of epsom salts(magnesium) will help in the uptake of nutrients, including calcium or you can just try a calcium foliar spray
 
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