Diagnosis help on jalapeños...
 

The attached photo shows some Goliath peppers that came from a couple of plants with what looks like a tan brown area completely encircling the bottom third of the pepper with the same condition appearing on others in a more localized area. It has been very warm this summer, with almost non-existent rain, but I have kept them watered, mulched and have applied calcium nitrate at regular intervals. I have about a dozen total plants, with just two having this condition and not affecting all the fruit, mainly the lower ones. Resembles sun scald, but they are not exposed to the direct sun. Any ideas?

Sunburn and blossom end rot?

This resembles a few of my early peppers, which I presume were scaled. My first peppers had grown blossoms as seedlings. I planted out without removing the blossoms, and the leaves were still trying to catch up in size as the first peppers grew.

You stated these peppers were not exposed to the sun. Did you use a shade cloth?

- Lisa

I used a shade cloth until the canopy of upper leaves had filled in. Plants are planted close together.

That is BER.

I also think it's a BER.
Vladimír

I think it is BER too, but what elevation are you in Colorado?
If you are way up your UV light can be way more than mine here in Texas.

Worth

Thanks everyone for the feedback. BER would be a first for me but there is always a first time. I hope it remains an isolated occurrence, but this has been an unusual summer, so who knows? Worth, the elevation for my area is 4600 feet and we generally have a large amount of days with strong sun.

I would spray the plants with a copper fungicide just in case. There are so many weird pepper ailments that I can't keep up with them. Almost every year I see one I haven't seen before. I have never seen that in all my years growing Jalapenos so I don't have a clue what it is. I have however seen similar things on bell peppers caused by stings from leaf footed bugs. I have seen BER on bells before but that didn't look quite like what you are showing but maybe it manifests itself differently on Jalapenos. On my bells when they have shown BER they looked very similar to what happens on tomatoes with the blackened blossom end and stunted growth.

Bill