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Jalapeños Turning Black Out of Nowhere? 4 Reasons for the Sudden Change

Jalapeños Turning Black Out of Nowhere? 4 Reasons for the Sudden Change

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Many people love growing jalapenos because of how much they can add to various dishes. People that like to make spicy food likely use a lot of jalapenos.

It makes sense to grow your own jalapenos if you have the room in your garden area. Overall, growing jalapeno plants can be quite satisfying, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t potential issues to look out for.

Some people have noticed that their jalapenos are turning black and this causes them to become worried. Why would the jalapenos turn black when you didn’t expect them to?

Read on to learn exactly why jalapenos can turn black. Once you’ve learned more about jalapenos, you’ll understand what you should be doing moving forward.

Turning Black on the Plant Is Likely a Sign That There’s a Problem

The first thing to know is that when a jalapeno turns black on the plant, it’s a likely sign that there’s a problem. There could be serious issues with your jalapeno plants that will need to be addressed.

Failure to figure out what’s wrong could cause your plant to keep producing fruit that is no good. Keep reading to learn about the different things that could be wrong.

1 – It Could Be Mosaic Virus

It could be that a mosaic virus is what’s causing the jalapenos on your plant to turn black. This is a type of virus that can prevent jalapenos from properly ripening on plants.

Peppers that are having issues with this virus will look a bit different than normal. They’ll appear to have significantly darkened areas, and the peppers will generally be smaller than peppers that aren’t being impacted by the virus.

There are some signs that you can look for in the jalapeno plant itself, too. Curled leaves could be an indication that your jalapeno plant has mosaic virus, and you might also notice that the plant isn’t growing as well as it should.

Sadly, this isn’t something that you can treat if you discover that your jalapeno plant has mosaic virus. It’s simply best to work on preventing this from happening again in the future.

To prevent the spread of mosaic virus, you can use aluminum foil around the mulch of your pepper plants. This keeps bugs that carry the mosaic virus from being able to get to the plants.

2 – Anthracnose Infection Is a Possibility

Anthracnose infection is another possibility that must be considered when your jalapenos are turning black on the plant. This is an infection that will cause portions of the peppers to turn black over time.

With this type of infection, you’re going to see the black spots appear along the sides of the peppers. You also commonly see watery lesions on the plant when it has an anthracnose infection.

You could see these lesions on the leaves, the stem, or even the peppers. Eventually, they can become black spots with enough time.

Once again, you won’t be able to treat this infection if your jalapeno plants have it. It can be prevented by planting high-quality seeds and avoiding planting jalapeno plants in the same bed where other plants have contracted an anthracnose infection in the last few years.

It’s also advisable to do a good job of weeding your garden to help protect your jalapeno plants. With proper care, you shouldn’t have to deal with anthracnose infection again.

3 – Black Rot

Black rot is something that can turn jalapeno peppers black as well. Sometimes when you leave jalapeno peppers on the plant to ripen until they turn red this will occur.

This is a type of rot that impacts red peppers that have been completely ripened. It’ll happen sometimes when it rains a lot or you water your jalapeno plants more than you should.

Getting water on the fruit when you’re watering the plant can be problematic. You could be accidentally getting moisture on the peppers themselves when you’re only trying to water the plant.

Remember to water the soil at the base of the plant so that you can prevent black rot from occurring. You’ll need to throw any peppers that show signs of black rot out, but you can try to keep it from happening again.

4 – Blossom End Rot

Blossom end rot is a different type of rot that will look like a moldy spot at the end of your peppers. Over time, the pepper is going to turn black due to this condition.

This isn’t an infection like many of the other issues that have been talked about above. When your peppers are showing signs of blossom end rot, it’s because you haven’t been caring for the plant right.

Watering issues and improper pH balance in the soil can cause blossom end rot to occur. Sometimes the calcium balance in the soil can get thrown off substantially and it’ll lead to problems like this.

An imbalance in the soil like this can actually prevent your jalapeno plants from being able to absorb water from the soil like normal. You can try to fix things by keeping the pH balance at 6.0 or higher.

Sadly, the peppers that have been impacted by blossom end rot will be no good and will need to be thrown out. You should be able to keep this from happening in the future by using good watering practices and keeping an eye on the pH balance of the soil.

Final Thoughts

There are quite a few things that can cause your peppers to turn black, but it’s possible to try to turn things around. For the most part, you’re going to need to throw any peppers out that have been impacted by the conditions mentioned above.

You can make good choices that will allow you to prevent these things from happening to your jalapeno plants in the future. Prevention mostly involves paying attention and ensuring that you take steps to keep your jalapeno plants protected while giving them what they need.

Now that you know what needs to be done, it should be easier to get back to enjoying caring for your jalapeno plants. Even if you made a few errors recently, you can always correct those mistakes and do better the next time.

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TDHofstetter

Monday 4th of September 2023

Except that some cultivars of jalapeño always turn black before they turn red... so very many times... there is no cause whatever for alarm.