Tabasco Peppers

[scarecrow]

I have 2 tobasco pepper plants that are at least 4 foot tall and are loaded with peppers. We here were victims of mother nature going haywire with the rain this year. Didn't faze the tobascos. Cayenne, weak. Jalapeno. Weak.

yeah they love lots of water. thats wierd...

 

[scarecrow]

Yeah...I'm at 5,250. So I feel ya. I am, however, in the desert and that helps quite a bit in the summer.

Albuquerque, yeah, that’s prime pepper conditions isn’t it, i know you guys get big hail like we do?. errr lol.. I drove thru there couple months ago on my way to Las Vegas. Didn’t think the elevation was that high there? Interesting… Beautiful area…

 

[Pam]

yeah they love lots of water. thats wierd...

Not really. Remember that they were developed in and around the Gulf Coast, where the humidity is very, very high and the is an abundance of water.

 

[Web_Of_Hair]

Hello guys, new here... my question to Web of Hair is what makes you believe that the two strains have been crossed? There is absolutely no visual evidence of a hybrid that I can see, especially if the pollen donor was the cherry pepper you'd see that in the shape, but the two are identical.

By the way, I'm looking for an authentic source of Tabasco pepper seeds, what do you guys recommend? I would like to have the actual McIlhenny pepper if at all possible... I'm looking for the same flavor, love it, but can't stand the vinegar in the bottled sauce... that's why I want to grow my own Tabasco peppers.

Thanks in advance!

Well I do not know what it crossed with, the only two kinds of peppers near my Tabasco plants that the seed was taken from was a Cherry and a Thai (though there were others 20 yards away as well). If you look at the plant that I showed a picture of is only growing one pod per node. The Tabasco plants I have had the past three years have always had 2 or more pods per node. Also the skin color and texture are quite different, original Tabasco plants have a very light green to yellow color to them when they are not ripe, the hybrid (whatever it may have crossed with) has very dark green colored for the pods that are not ripe. Also the plant is no where near as prolific as a regular Tabasco plant.

The neighbors who enjoy burning their mouths say they taste fruitier than the regular Tabascos but still pack as much if not more heat (or should say faster hitting heat).

Hope that is a good enough response.... But as it was already said, most nurseries have Tabasco plants available at aboot the cost of any other pepper plant.

 

[LeatherMouth]

Web of Hair, I now see what you mean in the plant, I was concentrating on the pods which looked identical to me. If you are so inclined and botanically curious, what you can do is grow out the F1 seeds (which should be very stable in expression) and grow out F2 seeds. Then grow F2 plants and watch what happens: an explosion of weird diversity, where you will be able to clearly identify the mystery pollen donor, as one of the expressions will be almost exactly like it. The good thing about F2 plants is that a few, of them will have a really lucky combination of the P1 plants, and those could be keepers.

Thanks for the tip about nurseries carrying Tabasco plants, in my area I haven't seen that... so yesterday I bought a pack of seeds from Nature Hills,hope they are not too bad. I went for the "Greenleaf" strain that was developed by Auburn University, as it is supposed to be more productive and disease resistant.

 

[Caustic Casey]

I grew 6 tabasco plants this year and was amazed at how big they got.
I still have a huge yield yet to be picked...

Here's a great way to use those ripe tabascos--
-Puree the peppers (seeds and all) in a blender or processor with
a bit of olive oil, kosher salt, fresh tomato and some cilantro (or parsely, actually, any herb will do...)

Put the puree in a pan and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Add some white vinegar to thin it out some.

Cool it and put it in a clean jar. The flavor is unbelievable.
Hooah!