Capsicum frutescens
Tabasco pepper
Common names: Tabasco chili, Tabasco chile
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 40 cm, rows 50 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Feb–Mar
- Harvest
- Aug–Oct
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 5 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public Domain · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Tabasco chili, botanically Capsicum frutescens, is a small-fruited and very hot chili species from tropical America. The name refers to the Mexican state of Tabasco. The cultivar of the same name is best known as an ingredient in fermented, hot pepper sauces. The plant grows bushy and upright, reaching 80 to 120 cm in height, and bears greenish-white flowers. These develop into slender pods only 3 to 5 cm long, which stand upright and ripen from pale yellow through orange to bright red. The flavor is fruity and robust, with a quick, pronounced heat. In the kitchen, fresh or dried pods are used to season sauces, stews, pickled vegetables and chili oil. In a pot on a balcony, in a greenhouse, and in warm summers also in a garden bed, it bears many pods.
Care instructions
Sow Tabasco chilies from mid-February to March and keep them bright and warm, at 25 to 28 °C they germinate most reliably. Plant them out after the Ice Saints in mid-May in a full-sun, warm, wind-sheltered spot, in a container of at least 10 liters. Pinch the growing tip of the young plant once, and it will branch more strongly and bear more pods. The plants stay compact at 80 to 120 cm but need a stake when laden with pods. Water evenly, without the soil remaining waterlogged, and mulch the bed. Harvest continuously as soon as the pods are red, which encourages the plant to produce new flowers. Rinse off aphids with a jet of water or leave them to ladybirds and lacewing larvae. Before the first night frosts in October, harvest everything.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingFeb–Mar
HarvestAug–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 18 °C, ideally 28 °C
- Days to sprout
- 10 to 21 days
- Light
- Sprouts in light or dark
- Sowing depth
- 0.5 cm
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, nutrient-rich, loamy
The Tabasco chilli grows best in humus-rich, loose and nutrient-rich soil that warms up quickly in spring and holds water without becoming waterlogged. In the bed, mix in mature compost before planting. In a pot, use a free-draining compost and ensure drainage with a layer of expanded clay at the bottom. The pH should be slightly acidic to neutral.
The Tabasco chilli belongs to the nightshade family and shares diseases and pests with tomato, pepper, aubergine and potato. Keep a four-year break for this family on the same bed. It follows well after legumes or lettuce. In a container, change the compost every year.
Feeding
Heavy feeder
Months
May–Aug
The Tabasco chilli is a heavy feeder. Work in mature compost before planting or mix it into the container compost. From the first flowers, give an organic liquid fertiliser or diluted nettle feed every one to two weeks, somewhat more often in a pot than in the bed. Let the applications taper off at the end of the season in August. Too much nitrogen brings lots of foliage and few pods.
Overwintering
The Tabasco chilli does not tolerate frost and is usually grown as an annual. Harvest all pods before the first night frosts; pods showing first colour ripen indoors. If you want to keep the plant, bring it indoors in October, cut it back by about half and overwinter it bright at 10 to 15 °C with little water. In spring, repot it into fresh compost. Dry the seeds from ripe fruits and store them cool and dark.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate Tabasco chillies from seed. Sow from mid-February to March, 0.5 cm deep in seed compost. At a steady 25 to 28 °C they germinate in two to three weeks, and considerably more slowly below 20 °C. Keep the compost slightly moist and stand the pots in a bright place. Prick the seedlings out into individual pots after the first true pair of leaves, pot them on until May and harden them off for a week before they go outside after the Ice Saints in mid-May. Chillies cross-pollinate via insects, especially with closely related species such as the habanero types. For seed that comes true to type, grow different varieties well apart or enclose individual flowers.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
mint family (Lamiaceae)
particularly well establishedYou will find that basil next to tomato and pepper improves taste and keeps whiteflies and aphids away.
For example LavenderThymeBasilRosemarySageHyssop and 43 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
borage family (Boraginaceae)
Borage attracts pollinators and is supposed to keep tomato pests away from the nightshade family.
For example BorageCommon comfreyLacy phaceliaForget-me-notLungwortSiberian bugloss and 2 more species in the catalogue
Source: organic greenhouse companion planting practice
Rather not
gourd family (Cucurbitaceae)
You should avoid planting potato and cucumber together because they share disease pathogens such as leaf and brown rot and stand in each other's way as strong feeders.
For example CucumberPumpkinCourgettePickling cucumberButternutHokkaido and 15 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop-rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Tabasco pepper yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
Free, no time limit
Notes from real gardens
What other gardeners have written down about this variety, anonymous and voluntary.
No notes shared yet. Will you be the first to write one down?