Sunscald on Peppers – Causes, Fixes, and Prevention

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Sunscald on peppers is a common, non-contagious pepper plant disease. It’s caused by sudden exposure to intense, direct sunlight. And your pepper plants are most at risk of sunscald during heat waves, in extremely hot climates, and if they’ve already suffered defoliation or loss of foliage from leaf spot diseases.

While you can’t always predict sunscald on peppers, even if you’ve been growing them for years, like me, if you want to successfully grow peppers, you need to know what steps to take to limit the risk. Let’s explore the causes of sunscald, discuss ways to fix the problem, and provide prevention techniques to keep your peppers in top shape.

Causes of Sunscald on Peppers

Sunscald occurs when pepper plants experience insufficient foliage coverage, sudden exposure to intense sunlight, or high temperatures and UV radiation. These factors can damage the delicate skin of the pepper fruit, leading to discolored patches and sunken, dry areas on the fruit’s surface. If left untreated, sunscald can cause rotting and splitting of the affected areas, significantly impacting your pepper harvest.

Your peppers are at greater risk if they’ve suffered from other diseases already, or if you’ve lost leaves because they turned yellow or turned black. In this case, with fewer leaves on the plant, the fruit receives more sun exposure than the fruits on healthy plants, therefore increasing the risk of sunscald.

Signs and Symptoms of Sunscald

To identify sunscald on your pepper plants, look for the following signs and symptoms:

1. Discolored patches on pepper fruits: Sunscald often appears as light-colored, bleached-out spots on the fruit’s skin.
2. Sunken, dry areas on the fruit’s surface: As sunscald progresses, the affected areas may become sunken and dry, resembling a scar.
3. Rotting and splitting of affected areas: In severe cases, sunscald can lead to rotting and splitting of the fruit, making it inedible and potentially attracting pests.
4. You may also notice discoloration, lightening, drying up and crumbling of pepper leaves as an early indicator of sunscald.

Fixing Sunscald on Peppers

There’s really not much you can do if you’ve already got sunscalded peppers. What you can do is remove the affected fruits and foliage if they’re showing signs of rot. Then provide shade to the remaining exposed fruit to prevent further issues during hot weather.

And you’ll need to boost plant heath to aid recovery. Fertilize and water well, and add a mulch top dressing to boost nutrients and retain moisture.

Preventing Sunscald on Peppers

Prevention is always the best approach when it comes to sunscald. In much the same way that you protect your plants from frost, offer your pepper plant crop protection from sun damage. Follow these tips to keep your pepper plants healthy and free from sunscald:

Choose the Right Location for Planting

Select a planting site with well-draining soil and partial shade, particularly during the hottest parts of the day. This can be achieved by planting your peppers near taller plants, like tomatoes or corn, which can provide natural shade.

Alternatively, consider planting on the east side of a structure or fence, where the plants will receive morning sun and afternoon shade. The right location will help keep pepper plants from getting scorched by intense sunlight.

Harden Off Your Pepper Seedlings

Before you’re ready to transplant your pepper seedlings into the garden, it’s essential to acclimate them to their new environment gradually. This process, known as “hardening off,” involves exposing the seedlings to sunlight for increasing periods over one to two weeks. You can get the full rundown of how I harden off peppers here.

But, in a nutshell: Start by placing your seedlings outdoors in a sheltered, partially shaded area for a few hours a day, gradually increasing their exposure to direct sunlight. This will help them adjust to the outdoor conditions and reduce the risk of sunscald when they’re finally transplanted.

Pay Attention to the Weather Forecast:

Keeping an eye on the weather forecast can help you anticipate and respond to sudden temperature changes or extreme heat. If a heatwave or unusually sunny period is expected, take steps to protect your plants.

Increase watering frequency to ensure your plants stay hydrated, and consider providing temporary shade using shade cloths, row covers, or umbrellas during the hottest hours of the day.

If possible, avoid working on your pepper plants during extreme heat, as this can stress them and make them more susceptible to sunscald.

Select Sunscald-Resistant Pepper Varieties

When selecting the best pepper varieties for your garden, consider choosing sunscald-resistant options. These plants typically have thicker foliage and are more tolerant of intense sunlight.

Some top sunscald-resistant pepper varieties include ‘Carmen,’ ‘King of the North,’ and ‘Ace.’

Mulch For Healthy Plants

Mulching provides numerous benefits for your pepper plants, such as retaining moisture, suppressing weeds, and moderating soil temperature.

To help prevent sunscald, use organic mulch materials like straw, grass clippings, or compost. Apply a 2-3 inch layer of mulch around the base of your pepper plants, taking care not to smother the stems.

Mulching throughout the growing season reduces soil temperature and holds moisture, stopping your peppers from drying out and keeping them cooler. And, of course, mulch offers a slow, steady nutrient boost as it breaks down into the soil.

This helps to keep your peppers nourished and healthy, fuelling leaf and fruit growth and making them more tolerant of unfavorable conditions.

Use Companion Planting to Prevent Sunscald on Peppers

Companion planting involves growing different plants together to support each other’s growth and health. If you’ve visited my site before, you know I’m a huge, huge fan of companion planting flowers, herbs, and vegetables.

Certain companion plants can provide natural shade for your peppers, helping to protect them from sunscald. Some of the best companion plants for peppers include sunflowers, basil, and yarrow, all of which can create a natural canopy and shield the peppers from direct sunlight.

RELATED ARTICLE: Companion Plants for Peppers

Fertilize the Right Way to Prevent Sunscald

Balanced nutrition is crucial for pepper plants to withstand sun damage. A lack of essential nutrients can lead to weak, sparse foliage, leaving the fruits more susceptible to sunscald.

Take a look at our guide to fertilizing peppers for a which natural fertilizers to use and when for healthy plants that are more likely to resist sunscald on peppers.

Water Deeply and Consistently to Support Healthy Peppers

Proper watering is key to maintaining healthy, sunscald-resistant pepper plants. Water your peppers deeply and consistently, ensuring the soil remains moist but not soggy. Avoid overhead watering to prevent wet foliage, which can contribute to disease development.

Promote Good Air Circulation

Good air circulation is essential for overall plant health and can help prevent sunscald by promoting more robust foliage growth. Space your pepper plants according to their specific needs and regularly remove weeds and debris from the planting area to improve air movement around the plants.

Provide and Support for Tall Pepper Varieties

Tall pepper varieties may require staking or other support structures to prevent them from falling over or becoming overcrowded. Staking can help maintain better air circulation and foliage coverage, ultimately reducing the risk of sunscald.

RELATED POST: How to Stop Pepper Plants Falling Over

Managing Pests and Diseases

Pests and diseases can weaken your pepper plants, making them more susceptible to sunscald. Implement an integrated pest management strategy, which includes regular monitoring, hand-picking pests, and using organic controls when necessary.

The same goes for pepper plant pathogens and diseases. Be vigilant, limit risk, but take action at the first sign. Problems like black mold or blossom end rot weaken plants and exacerbate other issues like sunscald.

Keeping a pepper plant healthy can limit sunscald risk because a more robust plant has better leaf growth so can shade the young fruits (and the mature ones) more effectively. Plus, a healthy plant is better able to cope with excessive sunlight for longer without burning.

Provide Shade

If you can’t create shade naturally with planting position or the use of taller companion plants, cheat! I rig up row covers made from simple garden fleece that just provides some shade, but still lets light, water, and air through. The advantage of this type of shade is that it diffuses the light without excessively blocking it.

This way, your plants still get plenty of heat and light, but it’s diffuse light so is far less likely to cause sunscald on peppers or tomatoes. Remember, your peppers need full sunlight to grow and ripen, but too much full sun and excessive heat with no shade or protection results in sunscald.

Container Gardening and Sunscald Prevention

Growing peppers in containers offers several advantages, including the ability to move them to shadier locations if needed. Choose containers with proper drainage holes and fill them with a high-quality potting mix to ensure optimal growth and reduced risk of sunscald.

Greenhouse and Indoor Growing Considerations

Greenhouses and indoor growing environments can provide better control over light exposure and temperature, helping to prevent sunscald on your pepper plants. Monitor the conditions inside the growing space and adjust as needed to ensure your peppers receive the right amount of light and heat.

Recovering from Sunscald: Harvesting and Salvaging Peppers

If your bell pepper fruits have been affected by sunscald, it’s important to know when and how to harvest them. Look for fruits that are still firm and have minimal damage; these can be harvested and used in your favorite recipes. Cut away any sunscalded areas and discard them before consuming the peppers.

Record-Keeping for Continuous Improvement

Keeping records of your pepper plants’ progress and care routines can help you identify patterns and optimize your sunscald prevention strategies. Make notes of weather conditions, watering frequency, and any observed sunscald issues to inform your future gardening practices.

Keeping a gardening journal is a really smart move, as it lets you look back in later years to see varieties to use and avoid, whether there’s anything you did in a particular year that you want to replicate or avoid, and what fertilizers and amendments you made.

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