As many gardeners and fans of agriculture will tell you, there can be nothing worse than when your plants and vegetables lose their color and start to turn black.
The general rule of thumb is if your crops are full of color and volume, then they’re most likely healthy. Seeing them turn black can mean a whole plethora of different things.
Because of this, it’s important to try to understand why your prized possessions might be turning black and if there are any ways that you can prevent it.
We’ll do our best to explain it to you so that you can see the signs. Is it something to worry about? Let’s find out!
Do Peppers Turn Black? Different Reasons
Ripening Process
Not many people would know if they didn’t know much about peppers, but they do tend to turn black or a dark shade of purple during the ripening process.
This is perfectly normal and you don’t have to worry about it. Because of the importance of the ripening process that these need when becoming edible, you’re bound to see this at one point.
Different Conditions And Environments
Much like with other forms of fruit and vegetables, peppers need to have a very certain type of surroundings in order for them to survive and thrive.
However, this isn’t always given to them and they can turn black, which isn’t a good thing, as opposed to the last point we made.
When exposed to cold temperatures or too much sunlight, these peppers can see their skin turn black and will of course put a lot of people off from eating them.
Nobody wants to eat a black pepper because it symbolizes that it isn’t yet ripe or isn’t good to eat.
Some Are Prone To Blackness!
It sounds hard to believe but some types of peppers are just more likely to become black than others.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re unhealthy or not good to eat, it just means that they’re more likely to become a darker skin color.
Some of these forms of peppers include certain types of bell peppers and even jalapeno peppers!
Again, this shouldn’t be a cause for concern, but there are signs that you should avoid these if they turn black.
These signs can include developing small black spots or if they turn soft. This usually signals that they’re falling prey to blossom end rot or disease.
Does Black Pepper Skin Always Mean Disease?
Speaking of disease, let’s quickly discuss whether it’s always the case if a pepper’s skin turns black.
The short answer is that this isn’t always the case and that you don’t need to worry too much about it.
As we previously mentioned, there are a few reasons why peppers will turn black without it causing too many problems.
It’s always best to feel the pepper and check if it’s soft before consuming it because you can get a good gauge if it’s turning soft due to disease.
If the skin of the pepper is still relatively hard and has some sort of structure to it, then you should be safe to eat it when it’s ripe.
However, we always recommend not risking things if you don’t feel comfortable.
Always look out for forms of insects or pests present on the pepper or inside of it. This is a telling sign of rot and mold and will be a problem if you’re looking to eat said pepper.
After all, any sort of lifeforms growing and thriving on a vegetable is an indicator that it has gone rotten and will be unsafe for consumption.
What Temperatures Make Peppers Go Bad?
As we talked about earlier, cold temperatures are always bad when it comes to growing peppers, with it often leading to black skin and going bad.
There are obviously different temperatures for each pepper to grow, however, the general rule of thumb is the temperature that you should be avoiding.
Of course, some peppers are more prone to their skin becoming black or purple than others.
That being said, you’ll struggle for a pepper to thrive if it’s present in temperatures under 46 degrees Fahrenheit, or 7.7 degrees Celsius.
If your pepper is trying to grow in temperatures under this, then you’re bound to see some blackness in the skin of the pepper.
Sunlight Exposure
Similarly, peppers will work in a slightly similar way to humans. Sounds stupid, but when peppers are exposed to prolonged amounts of excess sunlight and UV rays, they will see their skin get darker.
The leaves will also see some purple streaks grow throughout the color.
This isn’t usually a problem, however, the pepper will dry out and you’ll see a different texture on the skin of the pepper.
If the pepper starts to see dry spots and other infrequent features, then this is a sign of sunscald. This is a sign that the sunlight is too intense for too long.
Conclusion
There we have it! I bet that some of these reasons for peppers developing black skin weren’t exactly what you were thinking.
We understand that seeing your crops develop a black color is usually quite concerning, but a lot of the time it’s actually quite normal and is prevented by changing the amount of sun exposure or temperature.
Ultimately, if you’re not sure then you shouldn’t eat it. But, it’s often more safe and normal than you think!
Hi, my name is Angie Strousse and I am a gardening enthusiast. Ever since I was a young girl, my favorite time of year was when I was able to get out in the yard and watch my dad begin his yearly gardening.
Growing up, we had a massive yard full of trees, shrubs, and plants. We would all bundle in the car and head down to the gardening center, where my brothers and I were able to pick one pack of seeds each to grow that year.
