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Pods dropping and Rotting

georgej

georgej

The had some beautiful looking 7 pot white
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And then
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7 pot burgundy dropped off too.
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At first I thought it looks like blossom end rot. But there's plenty of calcium in my soil! Plus calmag sprayed regularly. And no signs of deficiency on my very healthy looking plants.

My only other guess is perhaps it could be a result of over watering? Our rainy season meant quite wet soil for a time.

Any ideas what it is and how to fix it? Or should it sort itself out?
 
It could definetly be overwatering or the rainy season you are experiencing if it's not a deficiency of some sort which you ruled out...I'm sure a pro will chime in and confirm though...
 
it could be overwatering causing some root rot, but to me thats the classic signs of a calcium deficiency, just because you have calcium in your soil it does not mean the plant can use it.
 
Too much water and your roots will rot and not uptake the nutrients correctly
 
It doesn't look much like it, and it's not common for hots, but sunburn?  I get this on bells here where it's constant sun.  Occasionally on larger hot peppers too.  It can happen here any time if there is not enough foliage cover (this is really a variety issue - some are just leafier) - and it's hot (95 or so).  But can also occur after a cloudy spell, then sunny.  It starts with a sort of translucent look in spots (cooked and bleached look), then soon it turns black and rotten. For too-much-water issues - loosen up the soil with organic matter and perlite and or vermiculite, and plant in hills - that is if lots of water is a constant issue. Plastic mulch could help too but might be too hard to deal with as you would then have to make sure enough water was getting to the plants - I use this for warming the soil early and weeds, but I flood irrigate and the plants are in a trench so it does not stop water.  I have the opposite problem and want to concentrate water - so I plant in a trench! Organic material in the soil if actually good for both though.
 
Add some sand to the soil next season for better drainage.
 
As for sunburn, look at where they were positioned on the plant.   Sunburn would be on the top of the pod.  I have to agree with others that it was too much rain, and/or that in conjunction with too much nitrogen.  However what is puzzling is they grew that large before the onset of the problem, making me wonder if you have soil bacteria that splashed up from the rain, but that would usually hit the leaves as badly or worse than the pods.
 
Sand is OK, but it fails to hold nutrients well, so if overwatered the nutrients leach out more easily.  Also, here we have clay and silt rich soils and if you add sand it turns into adobe.  You have to add so much sand to make it loam that you might as well do raised beds.  So organic matter it the answer - it holds nutrients. Perlite and vermiculite also are porous and hold nutrients a bit better (but it's not a solution for large areas - mostly for raised beds or containers). But if you have lots of sand nearby both organic matter and sand could be used.  I have sandy soil at one garden and silty at another (miles apart though so I can't move soil from one to another).  One I can work in as soon as the snow melts, the other not for two weeks!  I try to add organic matter to both.
 
One last thing is that it could be something like anthracnose hopefully not.  Look for little black spots (the organism) on and around the rotting areas.  Also look for these on leaves.  If it's blossom end rot there will not be signd of trouble on the leaves or stem.
 
The dropping off thing makes me go with blossom end rot - or simply the plant not being 'right' - thrown off by weather conditions and aborting fruit, and nutrients going to plant growth instead of fruit production.  This could happen with over watering, under watering, or just the weather changing suddenly.  Probably just wait and things will change.
 
^  Drainage and nutrient retention are always at odds with one another.  If you can't keep the rain away then you have to make a trade-off.  I wouldn't add a lot of sand and of course there should be ample organic matter too.
 
I've got shade nets up recently to help protect from sun.
Not much I can do about the weather as the lead up to summer this side of the Pacific is crazy.

I noticed rot happened on plants with less dense foliage or canopy of leaves. My Moruga, douglah and 7 pot yellow and brown are fine. They are bushy. The ones suffering are healthy looking but less sense. I wonder if the canopy of leaves helps keep soil dryer or provide pods with protection from the elements. I have loads of pods ripening now, just a few plants being trouble
 
Blossom end Rot (BER) caused by a lack of calcium uptake. This isn't necessarily (or likely to be) caused by a lack of calcium in the soil, but more then likely by either a pH issue in the soil or most likely by uneven watering practices or events (ie drying out followed by a heavy drowning of soil) . That is my pick.

Very little BER is caused by an actual lack of calcium in soil grows. A common misconception
 
More Foliage More Protection for Sun and Rain. Looks like too much water. My best plants are crowded together. Possibly BER, but look at the crowns, that looks like to much moisture to me.
 
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