All,

Black markings on the stems is perfectly normal and tends to appear streaky
in nature and is a sign that the plant is strong and healthy.

The flowers tend to be very small and rarely open with the pepper/chilli
growing directly out of the flower after a couple of days, these flowers
always tend to appear at the joins between the main stem and side shoots.

Last year I grew chilli's for the first time in my greenhouse and to be
honest they went mad and from three large plants inexcess of 3ft each I must
have cropped several hundred chilli's, they do like to be kept well fed and
on the damp side I use capillary matting which is linked to a bucket of
water to ensure wetness 24 hours a day.

This year I am trying peppers which have so far been very slow but are now
growing strongly.

Hope that helps.


wrote in message
...

Its my first year of growing peppers, I've potted 8 up in pots going
from 4 inches to 8 inches.
They seem to be doing ok (about 18 inches tall but they seem to be
going black (on the stems). Have I done something wrong?

One of them has a small white flower. Should I pick it off or let it
grow?

Thanks