I just noticed that some of my hot yellow peppers and chili peppers are turning black???? They aren't rotting......this I know......the plants are green and healthy (I think???). Wuts causing this to happen? How can I stop it?
Christina

I do know that some types of peppers will turn a very dark shade of purple that does look black before they ripen.

You might want to wait and see what happens...

Yeah sounds like they are black ones. They taste the same, just that they're black instead of red. You can get all colours, yellows, orange, purple and yes, black too. If you keep some seeds i'd be interested to know if they grow again as black or revert back to red or whatever.

Thanks SN and Longy....but they're the same seeds I grew from last year and this didn't happen. I just dunno......I picked the blackest one and cut it open. Looked fine, tasted great!! I can't find anything on the internet. I just dunno...
Christina

I grow Jalapenos and I understand that they also turn black when ripe. Most commercial growers pick them green for increased yield but in Mexico (and Texas) Mexicans won't touch them unless they have black and corking on them.

Christina,

It could be sun scald or a form of sun tan to protect from sun scald. I can't recall seeing it on bell peppers, but I have seen it on jalapenos. The peppers that had most sun exposure turned black on the half that was exposed. The half that was not exposed was still green.

Brammy, what's with the corking? I always thought that the "corking" was a sign of stress of some sort. Is the flavor different when the corking is present?

Hi,
I am having the same problem my yellow hot chillies some of them are turning purplish/black. Not all of them but alot of them, they are healthy plants with healthy looking peppers which are not supposed to turn that color. Your forum is the first I have hit on searching the web this evening. Unfortunately I don't yet see any answers. My peppers are grown in full sun in large pots.???

Hi PepperJane,
I think PAR_Gardener was right about the sun scald or a form of sun tan. It was only on my yellow hot peppers that were most exposed to the sun. It eventually went away on its own and I haven't had the problem since. My advice to you...if they taste fine and the plant is healthy, I'd let it go. Perhaps you're experiencing the same type of weather that we've had here in Southern Ontario. I don't remember a summer ever being so hot!!!
Take care
Christina

It is a scald. It happens to mine every year. Next year I think I am going to tent them on extremely hot days.