Marianne's Response

Growing Tabasco Peppers Indoors

Hello Ms. Binetti,

I’m trying to grow Tabasco peppers in northern Utah, where temperatures can drop to 20° below zero in the winter. As you probably know, Tabasco peppers can grow to 6 feet tall, are full-light plants, and prefer daytime temperatures of ~75°F and nighttime temperatures of ~65°F. Obviously, these plants will not survive outside, so I’ve decided to attempt to grow them inside. I have one eastward facing window and one westward facing window, which are both in an unheated room.

Do you have any advice on growing Tabasco peppers indoors?

Posted by Thomas Wyatt on August 31, 2018

Marianne's Response

Good for you going on a gardening adventure with those peppers. I have never attempted this myself but after consulting some other horticulturists the opinion is that the peppers need a room that is heated in the winter with as much sun as possible. They need warmth all year long not just in the summer. A heated greenhouse would be ideal but even then the high humidity is not that great for a plant that prefers dry heat. Give it a try this winter and see how long you can keep those pepper plants alive. The nice thing about peppers is you can dry them and still have a supply to use in the winter even though the plants may be hard to keep alive. Cut back on the water and do not fertilize in the fall and winter to encourage the pepper plants to go dormant when the days are short. In spring you can start to feed with a slow release plant food like Osmocote as soon as you signs  of new growth. Move the plants outdoors after all danger of frost is passed. You may need to cut them back to one half their size to clean up the leggy growth from winter and to encourage them to send out new growth - that is if they survive the winter indoors. Good luck and Keep Growing, Marianne Binetti