Tabasco

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Aphids

Aphids

Aphididae

Curled leaves, sticky honeydew and ants on patrol — usually with something already eating them.

, Whitefly

Whitefly

Aleyrodidae

A puff of white when you brush the leaf, and stickiness underneath.

, Thrips

Thrips

Thysanoptera

Silvery streaking with black specks — the specks are how you tell them from mites.

, Spider mites

Spider mites

Tetranychidae

Fine pale stippling in hot, dusty, dry weather. Visible webbing means you are already late.

, Cutworms

Cutworms

Noctuidae

A seedling lying beside its own stump in the morning, cut clean through at soil level.

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Attract Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Ladybugs

Ladybugs

Coccinellidae

The one predator here where the adults hunt as hard as the larvae do.

,

to keep them in check — plant nearby.

Growing from seed

Start Tabasco indoors about 12 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in warm soil (around 20–25 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 14 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in full sun, spaced about 45 cm apart. Expect to harvest in roughly 90 days.

Keep track of the seeds you own.

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  Pruning Chili Plants: When It Helps, and When to Leave Them Alone

  Chilies don’t need pruning to crop — but three simple cuts, made for the right reason at the right time, can mean a bushier plant, more fruit, and cleaner ripening. Here’s when to reach for the scissors, and when to sit on your hands.

  Read the guide

Companion Planting

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  Lungwort
  

  LungwortGreat pair

  • ❧Lungwort attracts Hoverflies and Lacewings and more, which prey on the Aphids and Whitefly and more that attack Tabasco
  • ❧Tabasco draws Bees and Bumblebees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Lungwort acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Tabasco
• 
  African Marigold
  

  African MarigoldGreat pair

  • ❧African Marigold attracts Hoverflies and Lacewings and more, which prey on the Aphids and Whitefly and more that attack Tabasco
  • ❧African Marigold suppresses pests that trouble Tabasco
  • ❧Tabasco draws Bees and Bumblebees and more that improve pollination for both
• 
  Alpine Strawberry
  

  Alpine StrawberryGreat pair

  • ❧Alpine Strawberry attracts Minute pirate bugs and Ground beetles, which prey on the Thrips and Spider mites and more that attack Tabasco
  • ❧Alpine Strawberry acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Tabasco
  • ❧Tabasco gives Alpine Strawberry sheltering shade in the heat of summer

How to grow Tabasco

1. Sow12 weeks before frost
2. Germinates14 days
3. Space45 cm apart
4. GrowFull sun
5. Harvest~90 days

Water: Medium · Height: 120 cm · Soil: Rich, well-draining, warm (pH 5.5–6.8)