Thai pepper plants
Two small hot plants. One ripens white. One is the Halloween plant, with red pods on a compact bush.
By Debra Austin
Species: Capsicum annuum
What we mean by Thai
Thai pepper, in the kitchen, usually means a small upright pod with a clean, sharp heat. A lot of them are Capsicum annuum. Some bird peppers sold under the same idea are Capsicum frutescens. The two we grow are both annuums, and both are listed at 50,000 to 100,000 SHU.
KS White Thai ripens pale, almost white, and stays that way. Halloween Thai is a compact plant with small red pods. Neither one is the generic red grocery Thai, and we are not pretending they are.
Not a bird pepper, not a chiltepin
People use Thai, bird's eye, and prik kee nu as if they were one variety. They are a cluster of small hot peppers, and the names slip. We list plants under the name on the tag. A bird's eye in the shop is its own plant, on the wild-pepper page, because that page matches the word bird. It is not on this one.
Heat on both of ours is the hot band, well above a jalapeno and well short of a habanero. A single pod seasons a dish. You do not need a handful.
How hot our Thai plants are
KS White Thai and Halloween Thai are both listed at 50,000 to 100,000 SHU. That is the hot band. We are not splitting hairs between the two colors. The bird's eye we list sits in the same band and has its own page.
Growing them
They stay smaller than a cayenne, which is the practical reason people grow them in a pot. A 3 to 5 gallon container is enough. Annuums, so they fruit on a normal calendar, and a healthy plant sets a lot of pods for its size.
The pods point up. That is normal, not a sign the plant is stressed. Pick them as they color. Leaving every pod on will slow the next flush.
Thai pepper on WikiPepper
The Thai we grow
Questions people ask
How hot are the Thai plants you sell?
KS White Thai and Halloween Thai are both listed at 50,000 to 100,000 SHU.
What species are they?
Both are Capsicum annuum.
Is a Thai pepper the same as a bird's eye?
They are close in the kitchen: small pod, sharp heat. We sell them under their own names. The bird's eye in the shop is a separate plant.
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