How to Grow Tabasco Chilies

1 | Appearance

At less than 1-inch long (and up to 2-inches), tabasco peppers are small, but mighty. Most of us associate tabasco peppers with the deep red color from the traditional Tabasco Brand hot sauce, but they can vary in color from green to yellow and orange 

2 | Uses

The sweet, fruity and smoky chile is used as a flavoring and spice in countless recipes but is typically used to make hot sauce. 

3 | Grow

Heat and full sunlight exposure help tabasco chilies thrive, making them easy to grow in New Orleans. But they do like a lot of moisture and can get scorched in the Louisiana sun, so pay attention to the leaves and if they start to cook and curl, give the plants shade. They can grow year-round, but in colder months, consider planting tabasco chilies in containers so they can be brought inside when the temps drop below 28 degrees. Otherwise, plant in March, April and May or July, August and September. . 

4 | Learn

Tabasco chilies, or Capsicum frutescens, originated in Mexico. Edmund McIlhenny, founder of Tabasco Brand, brought the pepper to dinner tables across the Reconstruction-era South in 1868 via his special blend of hot sauce. The brand can now be found in kitchens around the globe, but the company is still based on Avery Island. 

5 | Lagniappe

If you think jalapeños are hot, then tabasco peppers are likely to light you up. On the Scoville scale, which is how peppers are rated, the jalapeño measures 2,500 to 10,000 heat units. The tabasco pepper, while lower than the habanero which measures at 100,000 to 350,000 heat units, measures four to 20 times hotter than the jalapeño at 25,000 to 50,000 heat units.