mold inside my habaneros

robanero · Tue Aug 30, 2011 11:44 pm

hi!

I just picked some habaneros, and some of them have black mold on the inside. I hate to throw away so many peppers, since my yield is pretty small. is it safe to eat the peppers if I remove the mold, then cook the pepper or make it into hot sauce?

thanks!
rob

soil · Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:38 am

has it been real wet and humid. I wouldn't eat the mold. I throw away moldy peppers to the compost pile.

robanero · Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:16 pm

it has been. some of them are beautiful. this mold seems to affect just the seed packet on the inside, so I was just scooping out the moldy bits and rinsing the remaining meat off, but I'm having second thoughts now.

Francis Barnswallow · Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:27 pm

Is the mold on the seeds brown or almost black in color?

robanero · Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:46 pm

they're at different levels, varying from light brown to black. some have some fuzz.

TZ -OH6 · Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:30 pm

I have that problem here. It's Alternaria infection. It was almost impossible for me to find out what it was, but I finally did. It can enter through the flower stigma.

I cut off all of the bad stuff when I seed the peppers and use the good peices.

soil · Wed Aug 31, 2011 5:35 pm

is it spread by pollinators?

robanero · Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:16 am

here's some photos.
[img]https://www.schipano.com/rob/hab-photo1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://www.schipano.com/rob/hab-photo2.jpg[/img]

As you can see, there's a lot of peppers with this problem.

!potatoes! · Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:41 pm

I'd use whatever I could - get rid of the bad parts, maybe taste-test for off-flavors (can you taste them through the heat?), but health-wise, it shouldn't affect the unaffected parts of the peppers.

robanero · Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:55 pm

thx. yes, you can taste them for a split second before the heat kicks in

Ruffsta · Thu Sep 01, 2011 4:10 pm

I wouldn't even bother.. call it a loss and leave it at that.. that's just me

yeah I'd be pissed, but it is what it is.. question here is: did you have fun growing them?

also, did you learn anything new or would do anything different with your growing habits?

robanero · Thu Sep 01, 2011 4:38 pm

sadly my gardening situation is not ideal. containers on a fairly small deck, challenging exposure to sun (bay area morning fog till noon sometimes). I seem to be getting worse as the years go by! so I guess I haven't learned much, but now that I know about this site, I should be learning something... you should see my tomato and cucumber plants - they are pitiful.

Ruffsta · Fri Sep 02, 2011 12:14 pm

robanero wrote:I seem to be getting worse as the years go by! so I guess I haven't learned much, but now that I know about this site, I should be learning something...

well, I can't compete with most people on here, but I assure you that I have learned a lot from this group and I know I will continue to learn from them and eventually one day I can stand on the same platform as them.

I've gotten so much further with my gardening techniques just by being on here and watching youtube videos and lots of reading. I even got to teach a few people that live around me.. my kids love learning and they are just about as good as me. so, I know you learn a lot on here too.

garden5 · Sat Sep 03, 2011 4:28 pm

If you can, re-pot the pepper plant because if it's not too far gone, it may come back by sending up new shoots from the base and stem.

Avonnow · Sat Sep 03, 2011 8:17 pm

Well I have to say I am embarrassed and at the same time elated.

I had alot of peppers this year hot and regular and a few had something similiar, had no idea it was that bad. I cut out the bad part and ate them, probably ate alot of them - I am not dead

- so waste not want not. I work too hard, I will salvage what I can. I have a small garden and every thing counts - so its up to you. But I am alive and kicking.!

Ruffsta · Sat Sep 03, 2011 8:36 pm

but is it really worth it? I wouldn't push my limits.. if it don't look right.. simply because it's not..

we are glad to hear you are still around and kicking, but some chances are not worth the risk.. especially when it comes to mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, ect... these can affect major vital organs - sometimes fast.. sometimes years down the road..

when you look at something, take it for what it is.. instead of what "could be" when it comes to food.

garden5 · Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:21 pm

I just got the same thing with my first ghost pepper!

I left it on the plant for about a week or so after it turned red. When I picked it, a small part of the skin looked to be getting a dark hue. Several hours after I picked it, half of the pepper was dark and when I cut into it, everything inside was moldy.

Now, the one thing I noticed was that you are growing yours in pots and this one was in a pot...I'm wondering if that has something to do with it? I also wonder if leaving it on the plant a long time has anything to do with it as well?

garden5 · Sat Sep 17, 2011 4:13 pm

Ok, I picked another red one Monday. This one hasn't been red for very long on the plant. It wasn't soft and didn't seem to have any dark hues to it. However, I didn't cut it open until Saturday. By this time, it was slightly soft and the inside was about half-moldy. However, there were parts that were salvageable that were clean.

I'm thinking that for some reason, I will have to pick them as soon as they turn red and the use them in order to get away with very little mold inside.