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I have a chilli plant that's on its second year of fruit production. On a couple of chillies I noticed these bumps or loops growing out of the top of the chillies.

See the photographs below for an example:

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What's causing this deformity?

Kev
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    @Kev could you check the bottom of the pepper to see if that spot is soft? Check the leaf with the dark spots just above this pepper. More pictures? What did you use for soil? – stormy Jun 02 '17 at 18:33

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Major virus of peppers I am not sure of course but peppers like their sister tomatoes are fraught with disease and a second year?

What I see are soft, sunken lesions as well as the mutant pepper coming out of the proper pepper. Reminds me of boles on pine trees. Virus.

Check out this article and let me know what you think. I am fairly sure this is a virus and as such I would get rid of those plants. They would be done. Get rid of the soil and plant material. Not in compost you might want to use for tomatoes, peppers, egg plant, potatoes or anything in Solanaceae family. I'd bag and then dig a big hole somewhere and bury.

Do you have an out of doors garden? Did you use garden soil? That would be the vector. Never use garden soil for pots. Pull up all the potting soil/disease/insect problems when garden soil is used for pots. This is why I never ever use garden soil to plant plants or start seed in pots. Just basic, sterilized store bought potting soil.

Perhaps someone else will come up with a better answer. I hope so but I think not. Yes, you can harvest the chilies cut off the sunken lesions, roast them (better than drying at this point) and eat safely. But those plants if infected with this virus need to go.

Check with your local Cooperative Extension Service to find how to properly dispose. I'd like to know if you used potting soil or garden soil or added some non sterilized mulch. Sorry. This is how we learn.

And, I have got to know if these peppers are strictly indoor plants. If so I am amazed you've gotten this far! Do you use artificial lighting?

stormy
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  • I see soft, sunken lesions on those pictures. OP's don't necessarily notice this stuff. Look again, pnuts...I respect your thoughts! Especially the first picture; the leaf itself has a major fungal spot of some sort and then further down on the chili, there is a whitish coated lesion. To have reference for light, higher up on the chili there is a reflection of light which is very different. Hey, I am shooting from the hip here with what there is to use for information. – stormy Jun 02 '17 at 18:31
  • I have no idea if that is fungal or viral. The mutant 'baby' (reminds me of mad max and Thunderdome), means virus to me. Lots of viral weird babies like this are actually normal now and then. – stormy Jun 02 '17 at 18:51
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    Sorry for not replying sooner. The chillies themselves are firm all round and seem otherwise healthy. There's no scarring/lesions and those dark blemishes are just shadows. That leaf is a dried up thing I should have picked off of the plant ages ago (I managed to nick the top of the plant when closing my swing out kitchen window which damaged it slightly). The plant is potted in shop-bought compost and sterile soil. I will admit the pot is getting a bit small for the plant and I should have re-potted at the end of last year. – Kev Jun 03 '17 at 16:17