Chili tips staying black

pau12th

I have been growing chilis from this plant for a couple years now and normally the entire pepper will turn red while on the plant. For an unknown reason, the tips on about 1/2 of this years crop refuses to have the tip turn red and will stay black (see first photo). It will not even turn as it start to dry out (see second photo). This hasn't happened in years past, any idea what may be causing this?
 

Fairygirl

I can't answer your question as such @pau12th, but there are loads of people on the forum who grow chillis, so they should be able to help. 

I wonder if you need to pick them a bit earlier though? Would that make a difference to the process? I remember reading a thread a while ago where someone had a problem with the ripening process, and that was the advice. It was more applicable if the plants were outside, due to weather conditions - temps etc. 

Desi_in_London

Do you know what variety of chilli it is ( and if so , what)?  Are you in the UK and are you growing it indoors or outdoors? More specifically do all the chilli fruits go through an all  black stage before they become red ( for the ones wholly red)-- ie eg cayennes are green before ripening through various yellowy orange shades depending on how you perceive colour to red?

BobTheGardener

Did you shake-off the old compost and re-pot it at the start of it's second year?  That's always worth doing with overwintered chillies and peppers, so they have enough of all the required nutrients.  You can use a general liquid feed or tomato feed instead, but I find they prefer fresh compost each year.  I mention this because the leaves to look a bit yellow and undernourished, but that could just be the time of year.  Aphids can also carry viruses, so plants can deteriorate in health over time.  

philippasmith2

I have noticed the "tip" issue on a few of my Cayennes this year but it has only occurred on maybe 4 or 5 out of approx. 100 fruit which ripened fully top to bottom.  I noticed it more on the smaller/weaker/thinner fruits. My particular Cayenne turn from Green to Red so the colour of the tip has remained green in those few cases.
Have you actually tried cutting one of those open to see if there is any signs of damage inside ?  Is this restricted to the same plant or is it happening across the board so to speak ?

pau12th

@Desi_in_London They are (we think) a mix of Thai and "pointing to heaven" chilis. Growing it outdoors in California. The past 2 years (and 1/2 the peppers this year) go through the full green to black to red stages (some gradients, but always ended fully red).

@BobTheGardener I actually had planted one bush in the ground this summer and have another that I moved to a bigger pot, and it is happening to both plants. I did use some liquid feed earlier which really boosted the output of the bushes, but still the same black tips before and after the feed. It was also an evening sun, the leaves are greener than the photos show, but thanks for the heads up!

@philippasmith2 I haven't used one of the black tips yet (have a ton of peppers so I was fine leaving these on to see if they would turn before I picked them. I will investigate in the next couple days as I add it to a dish, thanks for the tip. It is happening across the board (so to speak) with 2 plants.

Desi_in_London

@pau12th...  am stumped as the various thai i have ever come across don't have a black stage ( not grown the other one ) .  I did grow an ( unnamed, jalapeno-esque)   chilli a few years ago  which gave me the odd entirely black ( or blackish purple) fruit vs the usual  green ripen to red situation. Am wondering if it isn't some kind of damage as per other comment above, whether it's actually just one of those things with cross pollination if you are growing outdoors and there are multiple varieties.