Blossom end rot is mostly common in tomatoes, which seems to affect certain types more (Roma, San Marzano ...my experience). But Calcium deficiency seems to be a hypothesis. I read a lot a lot of discussions (here on GW) that IT IS NOT really CALIUM DEFICIENCY BUT PLANTS" INABILITY TO TAKE IT AND DISTRIBUTE IT properly. The common consensus is that irregular watering (from too much to too little, from too wet to dry ..) is to blame. Normally, calcium is one of the abundant elements in most soils(NOT talking about soiless potting mix). Calcium can exist in many chemical compositions that some are not readily available to plants. It is also most common soil sweetner(in Lime, gypsum, ...) IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING that ROTTING is the outcome of bacterial action(fermentation, infection ...) Most bacteria grow and thrive in moist environment where also the air is stagnant. it is also a fact that MOST(not all) BACTERIA CANNOT SURVIVE AND MULTIPLY IN ACIDIC ENVIRONMENT. So, then it is more likely that roting starts in an environment of prolonged wetness, and where the environment is also alkaline. When I weigh all of these, I can say that growing atmospheric environment is also crucial, in addition to the soil chemistry. I would take the following precautions: 1- keep the plants reasonably pruned near the ground, to prevent wetness, to provide air circulation. 2- Always water my pepper plants, tomatoes during the day(preferably early in the morning) so that it will have a better chance dry up fast. But then we cannot do anything about rain and wet weather 3- Avoid sprinkler/spray watering . Because if pepper fruits are dry, there will be a less chance for rotting. In effect, in lieu of knowing the actual causes, all we can do is try to improve our odds. This post was edited by seysonn on Tue, Jul 16, 13 at 4:14

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No, no, no. It isn't too late to fix the problem, it is just too late for those particular peppers. The plant will survive if you get it the calcium it needs. Remember, calcium is not a mobile nutrient. Leaves or fruit that are damaged from a lack of calcium can not be fixed but new growth will be fine. The absolutely easiest way to fix this is to start feeding your plant some Cal-Mag mixed in the water. Follow the directions and don't over do it. Next year, make sure egg shells are in the recipe for amending your soil. They will take time to break down into usable calcium to that won't help you this year.

Here's an article I wrote a few years ago which I think will help clear up some misconceptions and explain more about BER. I had lost this article, but Bets, who posts here, posted it and I was able to get it back thanks to Betsy, &&&&&&&&&& With BER there is NO problem with absorption of Ca++ though the roots. The problem is maldistribution within the plant that can be induced by a number of stresses which include uneven delivery of water, too much N, growing in too rich soil, too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry you name it. As the plants mature they can better handle the stresses that can induce BER so usually it goes away. The two exceptions are first, if the soil has NO Ca++ as confirmed with a soil test, and that's a rare condition, and second, if the soil is too acidic in which Case Ca++ is bound in the soil. Again, adding lime, egg shells and on and on can not and will not prevent BER b'c absorption of Ca++ thru the roots is OK. Paste tomatoes are especially susceptible to BER and I think someone in a post above mentioned that. If you go to the top of this first page and click on the FAQ link and scroll down you'll also find an article about BER in case some of you have never looked at the FAQ's And there's some darn good articles there as well, but I wouldn't pay any attention to the variety list b'c it's way out of date. The old information about BER being caused solely by lack of soil Ca++ has been shown to be wrong with research that's been done in the last 20 years or so, but it's going to take another generation before the real story gets into books, websites, magazines, etc. Most of the better websites already have the correct information. BER affects not only tomatoes, but peppers, squash, cabbage, cauliflower, etc., and it's a huge multimillion dollar problem for the industry, which is WHY all that reasearch was done. For instance, when tissues were taken from a plant that has BER fruits and was assayed for Ca++, the normal level of Ca++ was found, it just wasn't getting to the blossom end of fruits. And there's also a condition called internal BER where the fruits look fine, no evidence of BER externally, but when you cut open the fruit the inside is black Hope that helps Carolyn