Alberto’s Locoto

Now here’s something different. Sometimes known as the Tree Chile or Rocoto, this rare and unusual pepper is unique – it has fuzzy leaves, beautiful purple flowers, and – believe it or not – black seeds. Huge numbers of pretty, 1.5″ pendant fruit with thick flesh slowly go from green to deep red, on large bushes about 2 to 3ft across. We grow it as an annual pepper in the usual fashion, and get lots of ripe fruit in October.

(But note you can also grow it as as a perennial, overwintering indoors, & plant can fruit for several years. This is moderately easy – if you can overwinter fuschias or geraniums, you will have no trouble with this beautiful plant. )

We use the fruit to spice up pasta sauces and keep some in vinegar for later in the year. They are pretty hot but it is a warming rather than burning heat, and they have lots of flavour too.

Very, very rare. A different species! Limited stock – order early.