Problems Growing Green Peppers

[Tsuzuko]

I love green peppers, and they never taste better to me than when they come straight from my garden. The first year I grew them, I got a few and two of them were huge and delicious. The next year I only got one that was somewhat small. For the past few years, however, I have had zero luck in growing them. I get plenty of flowers but they die a couple of days after they appear. I've noticed that the connecting part between the stem of the plant and the tiny stem of the flower turns black about a day after the flower blooms, if it manages to bloom at all. Shortly after, the tiny little bud loses its petals and the entire stem falls off or the stem falls off before the flower even blooms.

All I've been able to find as a response to this is lack of heat, since peppers need a lot of heat to thrive, or lack of light. I've had two separated plants in the greenhouse, for extra heat, and out in the garden for heat and maximum light, but the same thing keeps happening. I haven't changed how I care for them, but it keeps happening year after year. Does anyone know what's going on and how to remedy it?

 

[Chuck]

It sounds like a pollinating problem. Peppers are self pollinating and without wind movement they, like tomatoes, have a bit of a hard time. For peppers, just before the flowers open up give the plant a gentle shake and keep doing this every day. In your green house you might put up a fan to provide a little wind too. You can also use a little artists paint brush and go from flower to flower. On peppers do this in early afternoon

 

[Tsuzuko]

It sounds like a pollinating problem. Peppers are self pollinating and without wind movement they, like tomatoes, have a bit of a hard time. For peppers, just before the flowers open up give the plant a gentle shake and keep doing this every day. In your green house you might put up a fan to provide a little wind too. You can also use a little artists paint brush and go from flower to flower. On peppers do this in early afternoon

I never knew that. Come to think of it, the tomato plants that tend to be the most protected from the wind do tend to have problems bearing fruit as well, though not as badly as the peppers. While some wind movement does get through the greenhouse, especially when the sides are open, it's usually not a lot, but the tomatoes get moved all the time when I remove suckers and rearrange them as they grow. The peppers simply don't get touched much. Thanks! I'll definitely try out your suggestion next season!

 

[Durgan]

Peppers
Posted on September 23, 2012 by Durgan
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?EVAHQ 23 September 2012 Peppers
Frost is imminent so the last of the peppers were picked about 20 pounds.Over the season about 40 to 60 pounds of fruit was produced by these nine plants.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?LSQWP 2 June 2012 Peppers lowering the pH.
It rained heavily yesterday, so it was decided to acidify (lower the pH) the area around the pepper plants. Two cups of white vinegar was mixed with 20 litres of rainwater.This is a subjective decision, but experience indicates that it is beneficial in my garden.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?OTQIE 15 May 2012 Peppers
Nine pepper plants were placed in the outdoor garden. Four California Wonder and five Pimento, both sweet types were available. The plants were purchased in flats and placed in individual containers to establish strong root structures for about ten days in the greenhouse. Peppers need an acidic soil or production is low or nil. I water periodically with vinegar during the season. A cup of vinegar in 20 litres of water was used for planting time watering. Some support was provided utilizing curved metal stakes from the dollar store, which I painted with Tremclad.

 

[Corzhens]

Those green peppers in the photo makes me salivate. It reminds me of the days when we were making pizza roll. The green pepper was one of the salient ingredients because it gives the kick to the taste of that pizza roll. But anyway, the mortal enemy of pepper here is the aphids. When the aphids attack we always surrender because they can never be driven away.

 

[majorcatfish]

sounds like a couple possible problems..
1. you might be using a fertilizer that is to high in nitrogen, peppers do like high n/p/k so a good balanced fertilizer is called for such as a 17-17-17
if not
2. your soil might be lacking calcium... gypsum is great to add since it does not mess with the ph of the soil...
and
3. if your growing in a greenhouse "yes" air movement is needed...

best way to find out is to have your soil tested.....