PEPPER - DISORDERS

Pepper is a delicate crop compared to its solanaceous relatives (potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines). It is affected by several physiological diseases, which in turn may open the way to pathogen infections.

Inefficient calcium uptake or unbalanced N fertilisation may result in the delayed development of buds, or even their dropping.

Some prevalent physiological disorders in peppers are blossom end rot, sunscald, and stip. Sunscald:

A very common symptom is blossom end rot. It starts at the apical part of the fruit as a light green or yellow-coloured soft, sunken spot around the blossom point. Later it turns into a brownish rot. Balanced water and nutrient supply are therefore very important.

Sunscald: This disorder occurs when fruit are exposed to high heat and light. Green mature fruit is susceptible.

Stip: symptoms are dark, slightly sunken spots on fruit. (Stip means specks in German.)

Physiological changes may include:

• Heat damage
• Mechanical damage by windblown sand
• Mechanical damage by hail
• Pepper tip dieback (high salinity, cloudy weather in autumn and spring)
• Dropping/dying flowers (overwatering, unbalanced fertilization, low temperatures, lack of light, drought) Peppers, especially in the first weeks after transplanting, tend to drop flower buds. It is usually caused by too lush growth in the earliest stages. Flower buds may drop when the temperature is low or light is insufficient or in extreme drought. Aim for an even development of the plants and do not try to accelerate it.
• Blossom end rot (calcium deficiency, over-fertilisation) Cloudy, overcast weather and saline soils (the presence of nitrate salts in particular), often cause tip dieback, where the tips of plants turn back and die.
• Fruits show large, sharp-edged, grey, slightly sunken spots on one side.