Soft Spots on Bell Peppers

What's going on with these squishy spots on my bell pepper plants? I'm thinking it might be something regarding the direct sun, but I have no clue.

I've got a couple like that as well, Steph. I'll be watching to see what the verdict is.

Kelly

I think it is sunburn. I have it too.

Or it could be lack of calcium, like blossom end rot on tomatoes. I get that on peppers and tomatoes especially after a lot of rain so now when I spray my tomatoes with blossom end rot spray, I spray the peppers too. So far no yuck spots on either this year.

Concur with rtl850nomore, that is sunscald. Blossom end rot (BER) does occur on peppers, but it appears on the blossom end not the shoulders. Both peppers and tomatoes tend to outgrow it as the plant catches up with demand. It is stress related. Sunscald is prevented by adequate leaf cover. Wet fruits in the sunshine are especially susceptible as the water droplets on the fruit tend to act as magnifying glasses. Bottom line , don't overhead water peppers in the daytime.

My peppers are unruly and keep peaking out of the leaf cover. I have shade cloth for the afternoon sun but in this hostile desert sunburn is expected. I just cut out the bad spot and use the rest of the pepper. My fall flush is less likely to experience sunburn.

The joys of desert gardening . . . Thanks for the confirmation Farmerdill. Most everything here we can blame on the sun, right rtl?

Kelly

Youbettchabygolly...the sun gets the blame.

Jayne

Well, they were growing under the cover of the upper leaves until the blasted hornworms showed up. Grrr!! Maybe I can get my DH to devise some kind of shade tent for them during the heat of the afternoon out of some solar screen or something like that.

Hoping to reopen this thread. I have fotos like the ones posted by stephanietx. Does anyone have any other thoughts about the cause?

TIA
LAS

This could have started as sun scald and moved on to something bacterial. If you see spots on your peppers you should remove them immediately. You can cut away the affected area and use the pepper or chop it and store as is. Peppers don't need to be blanched to be used for later cooked. Sweet pepper varieties are predisposed to sunscald more than hotter ones. I have to pick a fair percentage of mine early because of spots. They come off the plant the minute there are any symptoms. No use in wasting the plant's energy growing damaged fruit.

This July had an unusually hot period. During this time the peppers did not bloom. They are in very rich soil and when it cooled some, they went into blooming overtime and have such a heavy load of peppers that branches are collapsing from the weight.

Peppers that are stressed for water are more susceptible to sunscald. When bell peppers are loaded with fruit they need more water.

They sure do!!! AND, more feeding....