A healthy pepper plant should have many peppers growing in different stages, not just 2-3. A sign that a red pepper is past its prime is when the skin begins to crack. However, the pepper is still fine to eat. Picking the peppers sooner rather than later encourages more to grow. Do the rotting peppers have maggots inside? If they do, then that's another issue that needs to be addressed. Pepper maggots are at work.

I've had alot of issues with peppers getting soft and rotting as they turn red.

I pick 'em green now, also, that way the plant will produce more and production will not shut down like sometime happens when you let fruite mature on the plant.

Thanks ligardener and ristau,
I guess I thought that once a plant "goes to seed"...i.e. makes seeds in a few peppers, it feels it doesn't need to make more. Maybe I was wrong?
I've developed a liking for red, orange and yellow peppers and green ones seem too bitter. I don't think the peppers have maggots in them.......just a mushy black spot. Maybe I just left them too long. I sure would like to grow the red ones as beautiful and delicious as the store sells for $2 each.
Thanks for your input.

>>> ristau5741 I've had alot of issues with peppers getting soft and rotting as they turn red. I pick 'em green now, also, that way the plant will produce more

Me too

>>>>>catherinet - I sure would like to grow the red ones as beautiful and delicious as the store sells for $2 each.

Try to find one of those farmer markets, by me they sell for .79 a pound this time of the year

Bell Peppers do not work up north. I have completely switched over to chile peppers. If you let them go red they are good. Or try Italian frying peppers go red.

Peppers taste much better when ripe. they also look nicer in full color. I now grow only chile peppers. There are some with no heat. Look into the New Mexico type chile. Anaheim is a New Mexico. Get one that is completely mild.

the link below has the correct names and descriptions for the important new mexico chiles.

You can also go heirloom with Chimayo chile. do a GW search to find info on those. Chimayo is thin but high flavor and very low heat. Very fast to grow. I planted seeds outdoors in May and the plants have big peppers on them now and are flowering just fine.

You might like this one.

History: NuMex R Naky was developed by Roy Nakayama. It was created in 1964 as a cross between a Rio Grande Cultivar (Rio Grande 21) and an early maturing native type chile, and then crossed with a Bulgarian Paprika Cultivar. To add the final touches, it was then crossed with a New Mexico 6 Cultivar and a non-pungent Bulgarian paprika. R Naky is used as a paprika cultivar in New Mexico, because of its low pungency. It was released in 1985 and named after RoyÂs wife, Rose.

Description: Plants average 20 to 28 inches in height and have a higher yield than New Mexico 6-4 but is less pungent and will set fruit at a higher temperature and low humidity. R Naky pods are close to the New Mexico 6-4 in size, but are slightly wider at the shoulder, more tapered and its walls are a little thicker.

Characteristics: Pods average 7 to 8 inches in length and have been known to be larger than 10 inches. Heat level ranges from 500-1,000 scovilles, with a color level around 188 ASTA. Averages approximately 56,000 to 58,000 seeds per pound.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some chile info

I am experiencing the exact same problem. But, upon very close inspection I have found small white maggots in the flesh of the pepper and even tiny bore holes throughout the core.

On some the pepper from the outside appears and feels perfectly normal and healthy - but when I open them up there is rot and maggots inside.
Can someone help? I know it is a nasty description but I had a fantastic crop this year and it is all going to the worms !!!

I know that there are a lot of organic folks on this web who will flinch at what I'm about to say, but it's what works for me, and after all the work I put into growing my peppers from seed to picking, I have to go with what works. Let me start by saying that bell peppers are the only ones I grow that are prone to grubs. I won't say that grubs will never go after hots, sweets or whatevers, but this has been my experience. I spray my bells with insectecide twice: in early July, and again 3-4 weeks later. Last year I did not lose a single pepper. I've just started picking my bells this year so it's too soon to report my results, but I can say that no peppers yet have fallen to the ground because they were rotted inside as had happened numerous times before. What a simple cure!

Thank you - do you recommend a product?

Check out the FAQ about blossom end rot. With the season we've had this year, it is not uncommon. I've got about 50 plants suffering in various stages of this. The more mature the fruit becomes, the more likely you can have some problems. Other years there have been perfectly fine peppers in the green stage, but the mature reds succumb to either physiological stresses or insect damage. Once an insect damages the skin, secondary rots take over.

You can grow bell peppers in the z5 contrary to one statement. Perhaps a change of variety would help, too.

davidfromdetroit>>>you have either pepper magggots or pepper weevils. google each one and see which looks more like your bugs.
Either way they are evil little nasties and hard to get rid of, but there is alot of info out there on them.

kendra

Ya they are nasty - I hope they aren't perennial - ie, that they live in the soil over the winter. I will check them out online,

David

Paveggie..........I think I probably do have blossom end rot......but does it have to be on the blossom end?? I don't seem to have maggots....just a rotten spot, many times on the side of the peppers. They also seemed to age too quickly. I was just starting to let them turn red, and now I realize, besides the rotten spot, they are wrinkled and old. (Oh how I can relate! hahaha).

I love green peppers but I like to let a few go red. I haven't had any problems except for one that got a bit of sunscald. I grow mine in big containers rather than in the ground so maybe that makes a difference!

Nothing bothers my bell peppers. I keep moving them to different spots each year. I think that really helps. I think digging a large hole for the seedling and adding lots of compost also helps. I never spray (except a foliar spray every couple of weeks). I'm organic.

We are not having any problem with rot, at least as far as I can tell. But our peppers are taking their sweet time turning red. They are absolutely beautiful, but only red on one side. If we pick them now will they continue to turn red in a window? This is our first success w/peppers. Last years container pepper plants died as soon as they blossomed.