The fruits can become “scabby” looking. The cause of this disease is bacteria that like wet foliage and high humidity. Try watering under the leaves and only when needed as opposed to overhead watering. This will reduce the risk of your peppers becoming affected. Also, rotate crops every other year. The bacteria can live in the soil for at least a year. Don’t plant peppers where tomatoes, potatoes and lettuce have been the previous year. An approved fungicide containing copper could be used to help with this problem.

The most common insect problem that occurs on peppers is aphids. Aphids come in a variety of colors and species. Over the years I’ve seen black, green, peach, and grey shades of aphids and some I thought for sure were nearly blue. They generally like to be under the leaves and around the blooms and tips of plants. These little buggers are hard to control. Each female aphid can produce 150 babies in a month. That is 5 a day. They can reproduce without a male. They can change their sex when needed!