Yes, this is the same pepper that is famously used to make New Orleans’ tabasco sauce! (The name actually comes from a southern Mexican state.) While thin and not necessarily impressive on the outside, with fruit ripening from green to orange to red, it packs a powerful 30,000 to 50,000 SHU punch of delicious spice in cooking. This variety does need plenty of hot weather to grow well. If you live somewhere with a shorter summer growing season, you may want to plant tabasco peppers in containers instead, so you can keep them in warm growing conditions for longer periods.
Pepper Hot – Tabasco – Capsicum frutescens
Soil & Water: Peppers require deeply-worked, well-drained soil with plenty of added organic matter and a pH of 6.0-6.8. Water deeply, but don’t over water.
Planting & Growing: Start seeds indoors 8 weeks before the last frost. Direct seeding is not recommended. Stake to keep fruit off the ground and mulch for disease and weed control.
Harvesting & Storage: Harvest the first fruits early to encourage continued production through the season. Cut (don’t pull) the fruit from the stems.
Soil Temperature: 70-90 degrees FPlanting Depth: 1/4″Germination: 7-21 DaysHeight At Maturity: 18-36″Days To Maturity: 75-90 DaysSun/Shade: Full SunSpacing After Thinning: 12-18″Approx Seeds per Pack: 25
Product image via: Garden Hoard, Sandia Seed Company