Chilli Tabasco is a native of the Mexican state of Tabasco. It grows on a small bush that when pruned heavily will produce hundreds of green fruit that become yellow, then orange and eventually ripen a rich red.
The fruit grow erect and do not hang down on the bush.
The sauce of the same name is traditionally made from fruit of this chili.
This is the only variety of chili that does not have a dry inner side to the fruit. Tabasco fruit have a moist interior.
Sow Chili seed .0.5-1cm deep, spaced 50-60 cm apart in rows 1.0-1.5 m apart.
The soil should be warm, over 18 C.
Chillies take about 75-90 days to produce ripe fruit.
Plant in the garden:- Tropical areas: Anytime. Subtropical areas: August to March. Mild Temperate areas: August to December. Cold Temperate areas: September to November.
In Temperate areas it is best to plant using seedlings prepared a month to six weeks earlier.
Chillies like alkaline soil and do best in gardens with dolomite or wood-ash added to the soil.