I have 2 tabasco pepper plants that had a very rough start to life. my friend started them on his window sill in about a half inch of dirt. and there they stayed, for about 2 months.

I kept telling him that peppers need deep roots and lots of sun or they won't grow, but he's a stubborn fella and kept saying "no, I'll repot them and move them outside when they get bigger." yeah, I know what you're thinking. I agree

so when he gave up on them and was ready to throw them away, I took them over to my house and put them in a 12" deep pot and put them out in the sun. when I got them it was just 2 sad little thumbtack head sized leaves. now, they're doing great. I've attached a picture from a few days ago.

the thing is, they're really short. like, really really short. the thing can't be more than 5" tall, but it has a lot more leaves on it than my 2ft tall thai pepper. do tabasco plants normally stay this short, or do I just have stunted peppers? the tabasco peppers I saw at lowes had 1/3 as many leaves but were twice the size.

and if it is indeed stunted, what effect will that have on the peppers when it does bear fruit? it's been in a bigger container for about a month and a half now, and it's covered in flower buds (there's gotta be at least 30-40 of them on that tiny little plant), some of which have already bloomed.