We have had the occasional pepper over the years with a hole that resulted in a stunted pepper, but it has been rare, and I don't know the offending insect.

Your robust peppers should be usable.

Thanks larry_gene. I wondered if some of those were still edible but have been steering clear just in case.

Hopefully the offending critter is just passing through.

Just cut out any damaged parts and wash well. If you are still uncomfortable eating these, use them in cooking or baking rather than raw.

My sweet red round pimentos had been doing great, turning bright red, but all the fruit on the single plant has been ruined by an infestation of boring insects that turned the insides brown and rotted. Any ideas? The plant had done fantastically, had about 10 fruits on it, until this quick deterioration.

Good morning donaldl. It's been a great summer for the peppers and tomatoes in the PNW. My pimentos doing the same thing - bushes heavy w large peppers. But @ 1/3 have holes bored into them. I did find cinch bugs in a few and think they are the culprit. Don't know their proper name - long, skinny, black, & shiny with claw-like front arms.

My next task is to figure out an organic weapon. My strategy thus far has been to plant more - 1/3 for them, 2/3 for me, but, not the best long term solution, I'm sure.

AnnaA,

I only planted the 1 plant as an experiment, as I have a small back yard with four 4 by 4 ft raised beds. I have not seen an obvious pest; the interiors of the peppers are pretty much all brown and inedible w/o any boring insect but with small flies all around the rotting fruits. If I knew that there was an organic way to protect them (cayenne pepper or soap spray?) I would plant them again b/c they grew so well and the 2 fruit I ate tasted great in salads and soup.