Pepper blossom drop?

10 years ago

Hi all! So I tranplanted a king crimson pepper about a month ago. Many more buds have developed and they are blossoming. The flower then starts to turn brown and falls off leaving what seems to be the start of a pepper. Then these new baby peppers start to brown at the sepal and falls to the ground. Sometimes the smaller buds fall off before opening. This is not happening to every bud, but some and almost every pepper that start to form. I touch one this morning to brush an ant off and it fell right to the ground. Is this from the daytime temps nearing 90 and night time temps staying above 70 (zone 7a) , causing blossom drop? And if so, I heard somewhere that they will produce once the temp drops again, is this true? Any other ideas as to what this may be and how to remedy it? Thanks in advance for any help. Check out pics below. The bottom pic is the underside of the second pic.

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Comments (4)

digdirt2
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
It is called Blossom Drop, a condition shared by most all
blooming/fruiting plants, and primarily tied to hot air temps and high
humidity but can also be caused by excess nitrogen levels. There is a
FAQ here about it.

http://faq.gardenweb.com/discussions/2765999/why-are-the-blooms-on-my-tomato-plant-dying-and-falling-off

Looks
like you might also have some incomplete pollination issues (sort of
goes hand-in-hand when the plant is stressed) so the fruit gets aborted.

Dave
Andrew M (zone 7a)
Original Author
10 years ago
thanks for the info. that was my assumption. it's been getting real hot and staying hot overnight. also getting very humid here by the beach. will they produce fruit once it cools down as long as I keep it healthy until than?
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digdirt2
10 years ago
Yes they will. All we can do it keep them going and healthy until the weather breaks. If we are lucky we'll get a few intermittent periods where they can set fruit between no and then.

Dave
OldDutch (Zone 4 MN)
10 years ago
Different types of peppers react to high or low temperatures differently. I have very little problem with fruit set on my sweet bananas, but unless I grow a very early type that actually starts setting before real hot weather, I have problems get fruit on my bell pepper plants (so I don't grow them anymore - they and I just don't seem to get along real well). It is also my impression that once you get some fruit set, more happens easier than the first fruits did.