Tabasco Pepper Seeds

Tabasco pepper seeds grow into upright, erect plants reaching 37–48 in, bearing red fruit about 1.4-1.5 in long. Heat category: Hot. It is especially suited to hot sauce, pepper vinegar, fermentation, marinades, salsa, drying, and tall ornamental-edible plantings. Maturity is 90-99 Days.

About Tabasco

Tabasco is a hot chile pepper grown as Capsicum frutescens L. Plants have an upright, erect habit and reach 37–48 in; support is listed as stake. The principal mature or market color is Red, with fruit described as about 1.4-1.5 in long. Reproductive classification: Open-Pollinated (OP). Maturity: 90-99 Days. Names associated with this variety include Tabasco Pepper, Pepper Seeds - Hot - Tabasco.

• Scientific name:Capsicum frutescens L.
• Life cycle:Annual
• Planting season:Spring
• Growth habit:Upright/Erect
• Plant height:37–48 in
• Sunlight:Full sun
• Seed depth:1/4 in
• Germination:10–21 Days at 75–90 °F
• Spacing:24 in between plants; 36 in between rows
• Soil:Loamy; pH 6.0–6.5
• Water:Moderate
• Support:Stake
• Reproductive type:Open-Pollinated (OP)
• Fruit:Red; About 1.4-1.5 in long
• Heat:Hot; 30,000-50,000 SHU

History and seedkeeping context

Tabasco is one of the best-known cultivars of Capsicum frutescens, a species whose fruit is characteristically held upright rather than hanging beneath the branches. The cultivar name is associated with the Mexican state of Tabasco, while its best-known United States history developed in Louisiana. McIlhenny Company records link commercial Tabasco sauce production on Avery Island to Edmund McIlhenny beginning in 1868.

That brand history explains why the cultivar became globally associated with fermented pepper mash, vinegar, and a sharp hot-sauce profile. The history belongs to a commercial product tradition, not proof that every Tabasco seed lot originated on Avery Island. A North American cultivar archive lists roughly 1,000 millimeter plants, 35 by 8 millimeter fruit, 95 days, and yellow-to-red maturity.

Differences in height and maturity reflect source context and counting method rather than a reason to hide one source. The available sources do not establish a named person’s tribal identity. Capsicum frutescens cultivar named for Tabasco, Mexico, and strongly associated with Louisiana sauce history beginning commercially on Avery Island in 1868.

Institutional sources document tall bushy plants, upright fruit, 30,000 to 50,000 SHU, and yellow-green-to-red ripening.

Fruit, flavor, and kitchen use

Harvest upright fruit at yellow, orange, or red stages according to the intended product, but allow full red ripeness for mature flavor and seed. Use Tabasco peppers for hot sauce, pepper vinegar, fermentation, marinades, salsa, pickling, drying, and small-batch chile seasoning. The fruit is thin, juicy, and easy to mash compared with a thick-walled bell or jalapeño. Wear gloves when processing fruit or seed. The 30,000-to-50,000-SHU range is useful context but still varies with environment and ripeness. Tabasco is especially useful for hot sauce, pepper vinegar, fermentation, marinades, salsa, drying, and tall ornamental-edible plantings. Flavor and eating quality are described as sharp, clean heat in thin, juicy fruit especially suited to mashing, fermentation, and vinegar. Heat classification: Hot; listed range: 30,000-50,000 SHU. Pungency can shift with genetics, weather, water stress, and ripeness.

How to grow Tabasco

Start Tabasco indoors about 8 to 10 weeks before the last expected frost. Sow 1/4 in deep in a warm, evenly moist seed-starting mix; expect 10–21 Days near 75–90 °F. Provide strong light as soon as seedlings emerge, pot up before roots become crowded, and harden plants gradually before transplanting after nights are reliably warm.

Plant in full sun with loamy soil near pH 6.0–6.5. Space plants 24 in apart and rows 36 in apart. Maintain moderate moisture, mulch after the soil warms, and avoid excessive nitrogen. Install stake early where the upright, erect plant or fruit load warrants it. Mature height is 37–48 in.

Season care

• Warmth matters most during germination; keep Tabasco seed warm without leaving the medium saturated. • Harden seedlings gradually and wait for warm nights before transplanting, because cold soil and wind can stall peppers for weeks. • Install stake before branches carry a heavy crop, and keep moisture even while fruit is setting. • Harvest at the color stage suited to the recipe, but leave fruit fully mature on selected plants when saving seed. • Use 90-99 Days as a planning range rather than a guaranteed calendar date; weather and transplant stress can shift first harvest.

Harvest and maturity

90-99 Days from transplant to first representative harvest; the same value is used in every description. Peppers can often be used at an immature green or transitional color, but fully ripe color is required for mature seed.

Saving seed

Peppers are largely self-pollinating but insect movement can produce crosses. To save Tabasco true to type, grow several healthy representative plants, isolate them from compatible pepper varieties or use blossom bags or cages, and remove clear off-types before flowering. Allow selected fruit to reach full biological color, handle hot fruit with gloves, remove the seed, dry it in a thin labeled layer until fully hard and dry, then store it cool, dark, and dry. Keep the harvest year, source, isolation method, and selection notes with the lot.

Common questions