Blossom end rot. While this is an issue most people associate with tomatoes, it also affects many other garden plants. Peppers, eggplants, zucchini, squash, cucumber, melons, and all the others that struggle to get enough calcium to the fruit to go through this wretched issue. I've harvested entire barrels of worthless peppers because they weren't properly monitored.
All affected species appear to have the same dark leathery spots at the blossom end. The causes are the same: inconsistent watering, soil pH, and root stress. Prevention should work with all the species here-mentioned. What helps the tomato helps the pepper also.
Nightshades
- Peppers: Sunken spots on bottom third
- Eggplants: Leathery brown patches
- Symptoms appear during rapid fruit expansion
Cucurbits
- Zucchini: Water-soaked areas turning black
- Cucumbers: Dark sunken ends
- Melons: Circular lesions at blossom scar
For sensitive plants, use prevention methods before flowering. Consider testing your soil pH for all susceptible plants. Keep everything watered with drip irrigation. Add calcium when appropriate, before fruit setting. My zucchini patch thrived after I applied the same methods I use for tomatoes.
Check your plants daily in hot weather. Watch the pepper fruits and eggplants first, for they are the first to show symptoms. Pick the affected. This leaves more strength for the other fruits, and if you pick promptly, you will save from thirty to forty per cent.
Document the plants that are affected every year; Take notes on the weather patterns and how to care for those plants. Adjustments to watering and fertilising will need to be made. You will continue to improve over time and with experience, as you follow your annual prevention plan. Eventually, you will have rot-free garden plants.
Read the full article: Prevent Blossom End Rot: Ultimate Garden Guide
