Peppers

I have 6 pepper plants in my garden this year. Two Bell Pepper, one Jalapeno, one Banana Pepper, one Peperoncini and one Melrose Pepper plant.

For the most part I have been happy with the harvest I have had but I never seem to get the beautiful peppers you see in the grocery store. I fight with the leaves turning yellow and/or black. Sometimes the peppers get black streaks or ruff spots that look like scars.
Right now I am dealing with my Banana Pepper plant's leaves turning yellow. I decided to harvest the 2 peppers that were on the plant and add some fertilizer to the soil around the base. I am hoping it bounces back.
My Peperoncini plant is just starting to produce some peppers after hardly blooming at all. The blooms that did come would turn brown and fall off. After adding some fertilizer and building up the compose around the base, we seem to be back on track.
I have grown peppers multiple times but when things like this happen I relize how much I don't know and that frustrates me. Gardening isn't just about plunking a seed or plant into the ground and leaving it. The plants require watering, nurturing and sometimes intervention. Gardening takes time.
Today I decided to take some time and research what may be happening to my peppers. Here is what I found out.

Yellow Leaves

• Could be caused by a lack of water. Established pepper plants require an inch of water on a weekly basis.
• Could be caused by a lack of nutrients.
• It is easy cured with good watering habits and fertilizer.

Black Spots

• Could be a calcium deficiency which can be cured by adding lime to the soil.
• Could be a bacterial infection which can be treated by spraying the plants with a copper sulfate spray.
• Water plants at the base of the plant and not the leaves.

Since I do water my plants at the base I don't think that is an issue. Adding fertilizer has helped with the yellowing in my other plants and all the new leaves grow in dark green and healthy looking. I am going to look into the copper sulfate spray though, couldn't hurt to try. Destroying the plants are a last resort for me as I only have the 6 plants.

My Community Garden plot

Peperoncini - You can see some of the black streaks.

Today's harvest

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