Question by Kova
I planted a single red bell pepper plant in a five gallon drained pot this summer, potted with miracle grow fruit/veg soil. It has been flowering all summer, and the fruit sets, but after it does this, the stems start to turn black at the join where the stem meets the main branch. Then the pepper does not grow bigger than jalopeno size. I have kept it well watered. I do not see any other signs of disease or pests. How do I prevent this next year?
Answer by Tyler C
Are you sure it is black and not purple? It is common, and fine for stems to develop purple streaks.
Sounds like you may have some sort of fungus though, such as Rhizoctonia root rot or Verticillium Wilt. It’s hard to tell without more information.
check out this page http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/circ549.html for symptoms and control of chile diseases. Fungus usually shows up in soil that is wet, over-watered, and does not drain well.
Potted plants should be put in potting mix, not soil. Although maybe you mean Miracle Grow potting mix. Either way, use a higher quality, well draining potting mix, because Miracle-Grow is not very good, especially for chiles. The Miracle-Grow Organic is especially bad. I suggest pro-mix if you can find it, or you can easily make your own, it isn’t hard to do at all and there are recipes all over the internet. Then mix in some composted manure, as this is great food for chiles and has beneficial bacteria which help fight off and prevent diseases, and also won’t burn the plant like chemical ferts. Mixes like Miracle Grow contain time released, chemical fertilizers which can easily burn and stunt small chile plants as they don’t like very much fertilizer, a burned and stunted plant is more susceptible to disease.
Also, chiles come from hot, dry climates, they do not like being over-watered. Inexperienced growers have a tendency to water them far too often. When small you should water infrequently (approximately 3-7 days depending on climate). The best way to tell when they need water is to stick your finger an inch into the soil to see if it is dry. If it is moist at all, do not water. Or you can pick up the pot and judge by the weight of the pot. Or you can wait for the first signs of wilting, then water. A little wilting is perfectly fine, the plants will bounce back completely within a few hours of watering. Water infrequently and very deeply at the soil level (under the plant), the excess should run out of the bottom of the pot.
You can also use fungicides to control fungus, however, these don’t eliminate the fungus, they only control it. Bell peppers are kind of a pain in the you know what to grow though, the lack of capsaicin leaves them more susceptible than the hot chiles to diseases.
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