Why does this chili pod have spikes?

Question

I got some hot pepper seeds off the internet earlier this year and managed to get a couple of plants to fruit.

The two plant that I've kept were supposed to be scotch bonnets and lemon drop peppers. I now know for sure that neither of the plants looks even remotely similar to the scotch bonnet variety. One looks like it might actually be the lemon drop or some kind of cayenne.

And then there's this one. The fruits are growing upwards and are light-green in colour. I'm quite curious to see what colour and size they will end up being.

One fruit has curious-looking lumps that look like small, blunt spikes. I'm wondering what it could be. It this caused by insects or some kind of infection?

Here's another fruit on the same plant, which looks a little funny but does not have the same kind of lumps.

Answer 1

This is a difficult question. I can confirm that it is not normal, but there are many possible causes. This is a reaction of the plant to an external disturb. Often it is about insect picks or virus or fungi, which alters the tissues before they are grown, so when they enlarge, you will get more deformations.

You may take it out, and check if there are eggs inside, but I assume this is just picks when the fruits were very small. I think peppers are berries (botanical speaking), so peppers comes from ovary flesh, so I assume the damages was done after pollination.

I do no remember spikes varieties, so I doubt it could be just a generic defect/variety.

Answer 2

These appear to have ripened into healthy ají limon fruits. There were no critters inside when I cut them open. These spikes turned darker at their very ends. I removed the discolored tips the size of poppy seeds and ate those peppers. They looked and tasted good. The same plant produced a lot more peppers that did not have those spikes.

Answer 3

All but 1 capsicum species cross readily, so whenever different varieties of peppers are grown in the same garden, there's a high chance for your pepperseeds to sprout new crosses. First generations are generally very unstable and will exhibit a lot of variety within a plant group coming from the same seed pod. This might be a possible cause for your experience.