Peppers are soft and pulpy. What's the deal?

[MizNitch]

My green bell peppers were doing so well...Until the temperatures reached 95+. It's been miserably hot here in Arkansas with virtually no rain for the past month. My habaneros were also doing so well. Now, my bell peppers plants have practically stopped producing and the peppers that is has produced are very soft and discolored (brown, red, white). I'm pretty sure that's blossom end rot, right? Also, my habanero plants are still producing but the peppers are small and very soft. They look wrinkled. They're getting nice and orange but I'm pretty sure no one wants to eat a soft, wrinkled pepper.

What's the deal? Any solutions?

 

[franzb69]

blossom end rot.

get some calcium for your plants.

horticultural lime is your solution.

or do the cheap way, but you won't be able to use it just yet.

get some egg shells, fry it up in a pan. blacken it.

put it in a jar. mix some vinegar in it.

let it sit for two weeks.

and you have almost pure calcium to use for your plants.


if you have powdered milk, just use that. i hear powdered milk works wonders with tomatoes. what works for maters works for peppers afaik.

 

[The Medicinal Pepper]

My green bell peppers were doing so well...Until the temperatures reached 95+. It's been miserably hot here in Arkansas with virtually no rain for the past month. My habaneros were also doing so well. Now, my bell peppers plants have practically stopped producing and the peppers that is has produced are very soft and discolored (brown, red, white). I'm pretty sure that's blossom end rot, right? Also, my habanero plants are still producing but the peppers are small and very soft. They look wrinkled. They're getting nice and orange but I'm pretty sure no one wants to eat a soft, wrinkled pepper.

What's the deal? Any solutions?

It is not surprising that you are seeing a drop off in fruit set and development as the two are affected negatively by high nighttime temperatures, not much you can do there except wait for the temperatures to drop. With regard to your wrinkled pods, my first thought is that you need to water the plants. Finally with regard to blossom end rot, this is caused by a calcium deficiency. You may want to try an application of gympsum (CaSO4) first to see if you can alleviate this issue. You may have a biotic issue with the pods such as a bacterial or fungal infection. Post a picture, that will help with the recommendation. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[J762]

This is the last year I am bothering with Bells. I've tried for 5 years now to get them to grow decently, and they just won't for me down here due to the heat. I get what you get. Squishy peppers, with a slightly wrinkled/wilted look to them. They just don't like Heat, and especially not super dry heat like we have. They are perfect looking until they start to get to the ripe point, and then... All downhill from there. Cayennes do the same thing to me. Right as they are about to ripen, they shrivel up and look dry, but are gooey feeling.
More water did not help mine. The plants simply cannot take in as much water as they are losing to the heat, and if I water them anymore they will be planted in soup that once was dirt. If I let them dry out properly after waterings they are even worse. This is only with the Bells and Cayennes that I have this problem.
Everything else I have tried grows awesome.

 

[patrick]

You ever try misting the peppers themselves? Are they in the sun all day or do they get some shade? The AZ sun in the summer is one hot mother. Shade and moisture.

 

[NorTexChiliJs]

I live outside Dallas, Texas. I have 19 Bell pepper plants outside right now. I have 14 in full sun and 5 that get shade all day except from about 2pm till 5pm. Full sun in my area is from 7am till about 8:15pm. That is a ton of hot sun. The bells in full sun seem to be thin walled. They are wrinkly on the skin and the taste is downright supermarket-ish. However the plants that only recieve about 3 hours of full sun are doing GREAT!!! They do get decent sun the rest of the day. I have them planted between two rows of sunflowers. The sunflowers are about 10 feet tall and the rows are about four feet apart. The bell pepper plants between these sunflowers act like they are indoors and away from extreme temps. I will try to post pics tomorrow. If the plants are in pots, try to move them to a slightly shady location. I stumbled upon this theory last year when I only planted one bell plant close to shade while several others were in full sun. That plant was amazing while others were puny with poor fruit quality. I am not sure why I planted 14 in the sun this year. I may as well only have the 5 plants i have between the sunflowers. Hopefully i can keep them alive until september. If so, they should be large plants capable of producing lots of pods. Good luck with the bells.... I love the chocolates and the purples..

 

[HawaiiAl]

I have made shades to cover my plants in extreme sun. My raised beds are four X ten Made frames from 3/4" electrical conduct and 50% cloth, works great.

 

[MizNitch]

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, my pepper plants receive FULL sun all day. They just can't seem to handle the exposure and heat. My neighbor has his peppers planted in the shade and they're looking awesome. My tomato plants, planted right beside the peppers, are doing awesome and look great. They're producing large yields and large, juicy maters.

Do you think bone meal would help with the calcium deficiency I'm experiencing?

 

[The Medicinal Pepper]

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, my pepper plants receive FULL sun all day. They just can't seem to handle the exposure and heat. My neighbor has his peppers planted in the shade and they're looking awesome. My tomato plants, planted right beside the peppers, are doing awesome and look great. They're producing large yields and large, juicy maters.

Do you think bone meal would help with the calcium deficiency I'm experiencing?

Sure, I just recommended the gypsum because it is very soluble in water and as such will get into the plant readily. I am not sure of the bone meal solubility.

 

[J762]

You ever try misting the peppers themselves? Are they in the sun all day or do they get some shade? The AZ sun in the summer is one hot mother. Shade and moisture.

Oh, they are definitely under shade canopies. It doesn't matter. All it did was stall the wilt by about 2 weeks. When it is 110* in the shade (What my thermometer in the garden read yesterday afternoon), it's not gonna help things.

I also mix Gypsum into my soil in the fall.