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harvesting How do I harvest a Tabasco?

SV1000

SV1000

Don't laugh, I am serious :D

I tried bending the stem near the base of a yellow pod and it didn't snap so I pulled on it and snapped end of the plant off. I thought it was due to the pods not being ripe so waited until a few turned red. Same deal, they don't snap off like other peppers.
 
I usually just give a tug on the pepper itself. When the pepper comes off it's stem easily from a tug then I use them. When it's getting winter I just cut them off.
 
I bust out thee ole' leatherman and use it's tiny scissors. Or if your like me and sometimes lazy......you can use your fingernails. lol. Not bad considering I'm averaging a ripe pod every two to three days on my thai. Everyone else itsn't really close. Yawn........ Goodluck :)
 
Oh yeah... sounds like tabascos alright. Those really do have tough little stems considering how thin they are. I would cut them; I use pruners for all my peppers, but I'm sure a sharp knife or a pair of decent scissors or shears would work as well. I remember last year before I got my pruners, I was drinking beer and wanted a tabasco pepper. I did the same you described after giving up on trying to bend the stem and "cut" it with my fingernails and ended up with the same outcome... tried pulling and had the end of the branch in my hand.

An easy, sharp, clean cut is almost always better than pulling, because there is less chance of damaging the plant. Not to mention, I've found that it gives you greater accuracy, allowing you to cut with less chance of accidentally hitting a new bud or flower and knocking it off while wiggling or struggling to get the pepper off the plant.
 
Wait until the peppers are ripe and then pull them away from the stem, they come away from the calyx very easy when ripe. Only down side is that you end up with an "open" pepper. It's ok if you want to use them straight away but their shelf life will be less than if snipped off.
 
I always harvest with sharp scissors these days. You can often pull the pods off easy enough but I have the odd accident and end up wrecking too many plants especially during big harvests when I try to work fast
 
I have plenty of small scissors in the house so I will use them on the Tabasco. Fortunately I have not had the issue with any other plants....thanks!
 
My tabasco's just started growing little pepper pods! I didnt realize they wanted to hold on to the plant so tight! Ill probably end up cutting them off. Knowing my luck ill pull the whole plant out in excitement of seeing my first chile. lol.
 
Novacastrian said:
Wait until the peppers are ripe and then pull them away from the stem, they come away from the calyx very easy when ripe. Only down side is that you end up with an "open" pepper. It's ok if you want to use them straight away but their shelf life will be less than if snipped off.
Click to expand...

I do the same as Nova, SV, but they all go straight in the dryer anyway so I'm not worried about them not lasting.
 
I use a small pair of scissors, as well.
If you're going to keep growing that infernal pod producing machine, get a good pair.
You'll be using them.
Frequently.


Seriously, I would harvest my three tabasco plants three times a week last year. Those plants just don't stop.
 
However when you have this many Tabasco peppers

tabasco9-06.jpg


cutting them off becomes really time consuming!

So that's why I just pull off from the stem... I use them too fats to worry abouyt the open part...
 
Get ya hinged knives ready for this one, my last season Tabasco plant, yes one plant!

Photo250.jpg


And post mortem

Knives006.jpg
 
They are just so aggressive in their growth it's unbelievable. I know why the Tabasco sauce founders chose this pepper, you can't kill it with sticks!
Gets annoying too because it gets too big and crowds other plants but i HATE chopping branches off! :D

Only thing it got fed was two birds, a rabbit and some cow poo. Oh and some charcoal, im not kidding about the animals either. :hell:
 
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