Tabasco peppers can be grown as well. They are the seeds of a hot chili pepper used to make the famous sauce Tabasco which is produced in Avery Island, Louisiana. They of course hail from Mexico.
The small compact pepper plants are very easy to cultivate. They produce clusters of tiny spherical pods filled with pepper seeds from late summer till early fall. The seeds are in a cluster and are encased in an oblong shaped container. At first the container is green or pale yellow-green in color, and as time passes turns to red, orange, or yellow.
There were a few reconstructive periods for different areas in the US, and one of those was for southern states after the civil war. Around this time frame one could say America on the whole lacked flavors. It was in 1868 when a man popped up with a brilliant restaurant idea to increase sauce consumption and that is how Tabasco got its kick off to popularity.
As a result now everyone (and I mean everyone) knows about the intermediate difficulty hot Tabasco sauce which out sells every other pepper sauce in the world Tabasco. It is surely more than 195 different countries and territories where you can buy is pepper sauce.
On the hot and spicy food lovers scale, Tabasco pepper clocks between 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville heat units. When compared to a jalapeño pepper which is at a shocking 2,500 to 10,000 heat units, it is said to be rather spicy.
The heat level of cayenne pepper is approximately 40,000 units, which is close to the range of Tabasco sauce. Indeed, there is a considerable range among different chili pepper types.
So, do you want to try making your own version of Tabasco sauce? While the official recipe is a cherished and closely guarded secret. You could approximate it with some efforts, although patience is required, and only a handful of ingredients: red pepper, salt, and vinegar. (McIlhenny ages their mash for the official Tabasco sauce for up to three years in white oak barrels.)
The tabasco pepper plant is fairly simple to grow and should thrive outdoors in warm climates. For those in colder climates, there is good news. You can still successfully harvest tabasco peppers because these plants also do well indoors in container gardens.
This frost-sensitive tabasco pepper plant can reach a height and width of three feet and an individual pepper usually averages between one and two inches in length.
A single tabasco bush can yield an excessive amount of peppers ranging from green to yellow, orange, and red. Unless you are starting your own hot sauce business, a single bush can yield way more than needed. Often times, gardeners can spot their pepper plants producing a spectrum of colors on one single plant.
Types of Tabasco Peppers
Capsicum frutescens, more commonly called as the tabasco pepper, is the only variety of the tabasco pepper that is frequently cultivated in the United States. Nevertheless, there are a few unusual types of tabasco peppers cultivated in other countries.
Consider adding a few of these to your pepper garden so you can see the amount of diversity and variety there is out there.
Tabasco Pepper: The last variety is the tabasco pepper which is well known around the globe and serves as the primary focus of this article.
Tabasco Greenleaf: This variety was developed by Auburn University located in Alabama, aiming to replicate the original tabasco pepper and create a version with better resistance to the tobacco etch virus that plagues the original cultivar in certain locations in the Southern US.
Other than the greenleaf variety’s added benefit of being virus resistant, not much difference is notable from the original.
Tabasco Hawaiian: As the name suggests, Hawaiian variety of tabasco pepper is a cross between Hawaiian hot pepper and tabasco pepper. These plants bear one to two inch fruits which range from pungent yellow to fiery orange. They are very spicy with some resemblance to the habanero pepper.
Tabasco Short Yellow: The short yellow tabasco pepper is borne from a very small pepper plant. It only grows to one foot high and one foot wide, bearing blunt-tipped, inch-long, yellow or orange fruit. With the exception of small green flowers that blossom during spring, this shrub can be mistaken for the orange pekoe plant.
Growing Conditions for Tabasco Peppers
The tabasco pepper plant thrives well in soil with various types as long as organic matter is present. Also, like most of the pepper species, these plants prefer high temperatures and a good amount sunlight on a daily basis.
Like I noted before, full sunlight is always preferred, but is checked to mitigation strategies such as afternoon shade breaks which will cool down the plant.
Plants of this kind will not tolerate dehydration. In fact, they need a high consistent rate of moisture in order to survive. Due to their tropical origins, they do perform better with high doses of moisture.
In addition to being sensitive to drought, they also suffer from cold temperature injuries. For instance, your pepper plants exhibit damage at temperatures lower than 28 degrees Fahrenheit.
You can take steps to avoid frost damage to your tabasco peppers by planting them in containers. That way, you can relocate your peppers indoors during cold snaps.
How to Plant Tabasco Peppers
If you are situated in the northern United States, apply a layer of dark mulch to your garden beds around a week before planting peppers. This will not only raise soil temperatures, it will retain moisture, which is beneficial for young plants.
Ensure you have sunlight while choosing a spot for your pepper container plants. If planting directly in the soil, prepare to dig a hole two times wider than the pot used for the seedling or transplant. To remove the plant, loosen the soil, then gently tip the container to let the plant slide out into your hand.
Place your transplant in the soil at the same depth as it was in the pot. Refill and shape, carefully compacting the new soil around the plant. To settle the soil, deeply water your transplanted tabasco pepper plant. To provide optimal support, be ready to add a bit more filler later.
Care of Tabasco Peppers
To provide proper care for a tabasco pepper plant, you may need to provide support with small stakes that are attached to the longer fruit-bearing stems of the tabasco pepper plant as they tend to produce immense amounts of fruit for their size.
From the moment the tabasco pepper plants are planted until the fruiting season concludes, they will require consistent moderate watering. It is important to provide proper drainage as the plants can suffer from overwatering.
Incorporate a large amount of organic matter to improve water retention and drainage topped with mulch. Standard vegetable fertilizers are appropriate for use on tabasco peppers, though be cautious of over-fertilizing, which can cause excessive foliage growth while stunting pepper production.
Harvesting and Storing Tabasco Peppers
Harvesting the peppers at the right time ensures that the plants produce greater yields. If the extra time is given for harvesting the fruit, it will reduce the overall quantity obtained.
Based on the productivity of a tabasco pepper plant, we suggest that they should be fully ripened before harvesting.
Ripe tabasco peppers can be removed without damage to tabasco pepper plants if a sharp garden shear is used instead of the traditional tugging method. To achieve optimal results during harvesting, make sure not to pull the peppers out, as this would result in unnecessary harm to the plant.
In order to enjoy optimal quality and taste, consuming the harvested tabasco peppers right after picking them is recommended. As an alternative strategy,a few days ripening period on the kitchen counter works well too.
Juiciness is the defining feature of tabasco peppers. For this reason, methods like drying them for storage lose their appeal. The juicy nature goes away during the process.
Chopping and then freezing peppers is the only effective technique to retain their flavor, despite rendering them incapable of providing the crispiness they possess prior to freezing and thawing.
Why not create your own Tabasco-style sauce that you could bestow upon family and friends instead of storing these hot peppers in the freezer or munching on them raw off the vine?
Health Benefits of Tabasco Peppers
Like other hot peppers, tabasco pepper is known for its noteworthy health benefits. It aids digestion, protects the heart, alleviates joint inflammation, supports weight management, has anti-cancer properties, combats psoriasis, and provides relief from migraine headaches.
Pests and Diseases of Tabasco Peppers
As long as the gardener gives the tabasco pepper plants suitable care, they rarely encounter serious pest or disease problems. To help avoid the tobacco etch virus, grow the greenleaf variety as discussed in the “Types of Tabasco Peppers.” Avoid providing poor drainage which can lead to mold problems, keep pests away, and do not allow rot to affect your peppers.