After the heat broke this summer my first ghost pepper (naga morichi) plant started producing. The fruits were green but as I waited for them to ripen they developed these black lines emanating from the stem area. Anybody know what these are? Google search says they could be the plants natural sunscreen? They are also taking a long time to ripen.
pod Stripey ghost peppers
- Thread starter krekk
- Start date
Some chili peppers have black shades in the intermediate stage of maturation. Sometimes it depends on the sun or the cold. I wouldn't worry 
HellfireFarm
eXtreme Business
They are also taking a long time to ripen.
Yep!
And agreed with @SatanicFlatIron - this looks pretty normal.
Yep!
And agreed with @SatanicFlatIron - this looks pretty normal.
Yes, essentially. These are plant pigments called anthocyanins. Some plants naturally have a lot more of these pigments than others (Pimenta de Neyde, for example) but in your case I would guess its a response to plenty of light exposure. Like a suntan. The markings will likely fade out as the pods ripen to red, in any case.