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Bell Pepper problems
johngreen
Posts: 58
in Fruit & veg
Hi there, I'm new here and hoping this will turn out to be a great forum! From Canada, and been gardening for 4 or 5 years now.
Anyways, so I've always had a problem growing Bell peppers. Whenever my fruit is ready to ripen up and has gotten nice and big, the peppers always seem to get soft spots and then go rotten in that area. Sometimes it almost looks like it's caused by the sun or something. I've always had this and never addressed it because I always get enough peppers that are good that I am satisfied, but there are a lot that get this problem and I would really like to get on top of it.
Any advice?
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Okay thanks. I was pretty sure it was from the sun. I've ordered California wonder peppers this year. any idea if they are able to withstand the sun?
I grew peppers last year for the first time and I too had this problem, one of the varieties was California Wonder.
Peppers can also suffer from blossom end rot, like tomatoes. It starts as small depressions usually at the bottom. The cause is Calcium deficiency which can be remedied with a Calcium Chloride or Calcium Nitrate spray a few times a week until the fruit has fully grown. A common cause is that too much general feed (especially if high in nitrates or potash) is applied to the soil which can affect the ability of the roots to take in Calcium. Peppers don't need anywhere near as much feeding as tomatoes, so worth erring on the cautious side rather than being over generous.
hmm calcium I should be able to remedy, I have tons of egg shells that I never know what to do with. I guess I can grind them up and till them into my garden?
So then likely the california wonder will have the same problem this year..so maybe I could plant them behind some taller plants to give them partial shade?
yeah, for a while i was just crushing the shells but i had a friend tell me that this can still lead to egg eating so what i do now is i blend them up in the blender with water and then mix it with bread crumbs, veggie leftovers and some source of protein. once the sludge is all made up you cant even tell there are egg shells in there. I get free stale bread and bread crumbs from my brother who works at a bakery. I know you shouldn't feed your chickens too much bread but i mean, i have a free source, so i try to mix it with a protein source.