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Peppers

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When to plant peppers

Slower and fussier than tomatoes: wait an extra week for warm soil. Chillies want even more heat than sweet peppers.

Photo: Nikodem Nijaki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The rules we use

Frost
Tender: killed by frost. Goes out 2–3 weeks after the average last frost.
Start indoors
8–10 weeks before planting out
Soil warm enough
Weekly mean around 17°C63°F or more
Heat limit
Average highs above 36°C97°F while it matures (flowers drop)
Warm nights
Fruit set fails when lows stay above 24°C75°F
Days to harvest
About 75 days from planting out in warm weather; longer when it is cool
Picking
About 8 weeks from one planting

General guidance, kept on the cautious side. Varieties differ: check the seed packet. How the dates are worked out.

At a glance

Grows outdoors in
75 of 89 cities
Earliest start (north)
Honolulu, January 1
Latest start (north)
Miami, August 28
Can go in this week
8 cities
No outdoor window
San Francisco, Anchorage, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hobart

Peppers: city by city

Sorted from the earliest start after midwinter to the latest. Southern-hemisphere cities follow, with their seasons six months on.

Sow indoorsSow or plant outdoorsHarvestFrost seasonToday

Northern hemisphere
HonoluluHawaii
TampaFlorida
OrlandoFlorida
PhoenixArizona
HoustonTexas
JacksonvilleFlorida
San AntonioTexas
New OrleansLouisiana
AustinTexas
TucsonArizona
Las VegasNevada
DallasTexas
CharlestonSouth Carolina
Los AngelesCalifornia
El PasoTexas
Little RockArkansas
BirminghamAlabama
FresnoCalifornia
AtlantaGeorgia
MemphisTennessee
San DiegoCalifornia
Oklahoma CityOklahoma
CharlotteNorth Carolina
TulsaOklahoma
NashvilleTennessee
RaleighNorth Carolina
SacramentoCalifornia
RichmondVirginia
St. LouisMissouri
LouisvilleKentucky
BaltimoreMaryland
WashingtonDistrict of Columbia
Kansas CityMissouri
AlbuquerqueNew Mexico
San JoseCalifornia
CincinnatiOhio
PhiladelphiaPennsylvania
IndianapolisIndiana
ColumbusOhio
PittsburghPennsylvania
OmahaNebraska
Des MoinesIowa
New YorkNew York
ClevelandOhio
MinneapolisMinnesota
Salt Lake CityUtah
DetroitMichigan
ChicagoIllinois
BostonMassachusetts
DenverColorado
MadisonWisconsin
FargoNorth Dakota
BoiseIdaho
MilwaukeeWisconsin
MontrealQuebec
TorontoOntario
OttawaOntario
BuffaloNew York
BurlingtonVermont
PortlandMaine
BillingsMontana
WinnipegManitoba
PortlandOregon
SpokaneWashington
LondonEngland
VancouverBritish Columbia
SeattleWashington
MiamiFlorida
Southern hemisphere
BrisbaneQueensland
SydneyNew South Wales
PerthWestern Australia
AdelaideSouth Australia
MelbourneVictoria
AucklandNew Zealand
CanberraAustralian Capital Territory

Swipe sideways to see the whole year →

Dates

CitySow indoorsPlant outHarvest
Honolulu HawaiiOct 23 – Nov 27Jan 1 – Dec 31Jan 1 – Dec 31
Tampa FloridaNov 30 – Jan 4, May 14 – Jun 18Feb 8 – Jun 26, Jul 23 – Dec 27Jan 1 – Dec 31
Orlando FloridaDec 5 – Jan 9Feb 13 – Dec 19Jan 1 – Dec 31
Phoenix ArizonaDec 28 – Feb 1Mar 8 – Apr 7May 10 – Jul 24
Houston TexasDec 30 – Feb 3, May 1 – Jun 5Mar 10 – May 27, Jul 10 – Sep 28May 13 – Dec 27
Jacksonville FloridaJan 1 – Feb 5Mar 12 – Oct 14May 15 – Mar 31
San Antonio TexasJan 3 – Feb 7, Apr 29 – Jun 3Mar 14 – Jun 11, Jul 8 – Sep 17May 15 – Dec 2
New Orleans LouisianaJan 4 – Feb 8Mar 15 – Sep 28May 17 – Jan 7
Austin TexasJan 11 – Feb 15, Apr 30 – Jun 4Mar 22 – Jun 10, Jul 9 – Sep 15May 22 – Dec 2
Tucson ArizonaJan 11 – Feb 15, Jun 21 – Jul 25Mar 22 – Apr 17, Aug 30 – Sep 19May 23 – Aug 4, Oct 22 – Dec 8
Las Vegas NevadaJan 21 – Feb 25Apr 1 – Apr 26May 31 – Aug 12
Dallas TexasJan 22 – Feb 26, May 6 – Jun 10Apr 2 – May 23, Jul 15 – Sep 8Jun 1 – Nov 26
Charleston South CarolinaJan 27 – Mar 3Apr 7 – Sep 11Jun 7 – Dec 6
Los Angeles CaliforniaJan 28 – Mar 4Apr 8 – Oct 20Jun 20 – Apr 6
El Paso TexasJan 29 – Mar 5, May 12 – Jun 16Apr 9 – May 3, Jul 21 – Sep 3Jun 8 – Aug 19, Sep 11 – Nov 18
Little Rock ArkansasFeb 3 – Mar 10Apr 14 – Aug 26Jun 13 – Nov 9
Birmingham AlabamaFeb 5 – Mar 12Apr 16 – Aug 27Jun 15 – Nov 10
Fresno CaliforniaFeb 5 – Mar 12, Jun 16 – Jul 9Apr 16 – May 16, Aug 25 – Sep 3Jun 16 – Sep 1, Oct 20 – Nov 19
Atlanta GeorgiaFeb 7 – Mar 14Apr 18 – Aug 23Jun 17 – Nov 7
Memphis TennesseeFeb 8 – Mar 15Apr 19 – Aug 25Jun 17 – Nov 11
San Diego CaliforniaFeb 8 – Mar 15Apr 19 – Oct 13Jul 4 – Mar 30
Oklahoma City OklahomaFeb 9 – Mar 16Apr 20 – Aug 21Jun 18 – Nov 1
Charlotte North CarolinaFeb 11 – Mar 18Apr 22 – Aug 19Jun 21 – Nov 2
Tulsa OklahomaFeb 13 – Mar 20Apr 24 – Aug 21Jun 22 – Nov 3
Nashville TennesseeFeb 14 – Mar 21Apr 25 – Aug 20Jun 23 – Nov 2
Raleigh North CarolinaFeb 15 – Mar 22Apr 26 – Aug 19Jun 25 – Nov 3
Sacramento CaliforniaFeb 17 – Mar 24Apr 28 – Aug 31Jun 28 – Nov 18
Richmond VirginiaFeb 19 – Mar 26Apr 30 – Aug 18Jun 28 – Nov 3
St. Louis MissouriFeb 22 – Mar 29May 3 – Aug 12Jun 30 – Oct 25
Louisville KentuckyFeb 22 – Mar 29May 3 – Aug 14Jul 1 – Oct 30
Baltimore MarylandFeb 26 – Apr 2May 7 – Aug 14Jul 4 – Oct 31
Washington District of ColumbiaFeb 26 – Apr 2May 7 – Aug 14Jul 5 – Oct 31
Kansas City MissouriFeb 26 – Apr 2May 7 – Aug 11Jul 4 – Oct 25
Albuquerque New MexicoFeb 27 – Apr 3May 8 – Aug 12Jul 5 – Oct 27
San Jose CaliforniaFeb 27 – Apr 3May 8 – Sep 2Jul 15 – Dec 2
Cincinnati OhioMar 1 – Apr 5May 10 – Aug 9Jul 8 – Oct 24
Philadelphia PennsylvaniaMar 4 – Apr 8May 13 – Aug 11Jul 10 – Oct 28
Indianapolis IndianaMar 5 – Apr 9May 14 – Aug 6Jul 11 – Oct 22
Columbus OhioMar 6 – Apr 10May 15 – Aug 5Jul 13 – Oct 21
Pittsburgh PennsylvaniaMar 8 – Apr 12May 17 – Aug 3Jul 15 – Oct 20
Omaha NebraskaMar 8 – Apr 12May 17 – Aug 2Jul 14 – Oct 17
Des Moines IowaMar 10 – Apr 14May 19 – Jul 31Jul 16 – Oct 16
New York New YorkMar 12 – Apr 16May 21 – Aug 8Jul 19 – Oct 27
Cleveland OhioMar 14 – Apr 18May 23 – Aug 1Jul 21 – Oct 19
Minneapolis MinnesotaMar 17 – Apr 21May 26 – Jul 23Jul 24 – Oct 9
Salt Lake City UtahMar 17 – Apr 21May 26 – Aug 3Jul 22 – Oct 17
Detroit MichiganMar 18 – Apr 22May 27 – Jul 28Jul 25 – Oct 15
Chicago IllinoisMar 19 – Apr 23May 28 – Jul 29Jul 27 – Oct 16
Boston MassachusettsMar 21 – Apr 25May 30 – Jul 30Jul 29 – Oct 17
Denver ColoradoMar 22 – Apr 26May 31 – Jul 24Jul 28 – Oct 7
Madison WisconsinMar 24 – Apr 28Jun 2 – Jul 20Aug 3 – Oct 9
Fargo North DakotaMar 24 – Apr 28Jun 2 – Jul 15Jul 31 – Sep 29
Boise IdahoMar 26 – Apr 30Jun 4 – Jul 30Aug 2 – Oct 14
Milwaukee WisconsinMar 27 – May 1Jun 5 – Jul 22Aug 5 – Oct 11
Montreal QuebecMar 27 – May 1Jun 5 – Jul 17Aug 7 – Oct 5
Toronto OntarioMar 28 – May 2Jun 6 – Jul 20Aug 7 – Oct 8
Ottawa OntarioMar 28 – May 2Jun 6 – Jul 12Aug 10 – Oct 1
Buffalo New YorkMar 29 – May 3Jun 7 – Jul 22Aug 10 – Oct 13
Burlington VermontApr 1 – May 6Jun 10 – Jul 18Aug 13 – Oct 8
Portland MaineApr 2 – May 7Jun 11 – Jul 15Aug 15 – Oct 7
Billings MontanaApr 2 – May 7Jun 11 – Jul 18Aug 9 – Oct 2
Winnipeg ManitobaApr 5 – May 8Jun 14 – Jul 3Aug 17 – Sep 21
Portland OregonApr 8 – May 13Jun 17 – Jul 18Aug 26 – Oct 17
Spokane WashingtonApr 8 – May 13Jun 17 – Jul 12Aug 19 – Oct 1
London EnglandApr 14 – May 9Jun 23 – Jul 4Sep 14 – Oct 15
Vancouver British ColumbiaApr 16 – May 8Jun 25 – Jul 3Sep 12 – Oct 7
Seattle WashingtonApr 20 – May 9Jun 29 – Jul 4Sep 20 – Oct 12
Miami FloridaJun 19 – Jul 24Aug 28 – May 2Oct 19 – Aug 17
Brisbane QueenslandMar 19 – Apr 9, Jun 26 – Jul 31Sep 4 – May 15, May 28 – Jun 4Jan 1 – Dec 31
Sydney New South WalesJul 27 – Aug 31Oct 5 – Mar 27Dec 18 – Sep 11
Perth Western AustraliaAug 3 – Sep 7Oct 12 – Apr 16Dec 18 – Oct 1
Adelaide South AustraliaAug 16 – Sep 20Oct 25 – Feb 26Jan 3 – Jun 12
Melbourne VictoriaSep 8 – Oct 13Nov 17 – Feb 13Jan 29 – May 29
Auckland New ZealandSep 18 – Oct 23Nov 27 – Feb 17Feb 8 – Jun 10
Canberra Australian Capital TerritorySep 19 – Oct 24Nov 28 – Jan 26Feb 4 – Apr 30
San Francisco CaliforniaNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Anchorage AlaskaSummers are too cool for a reliable outdoor crop. Grow it in a greenhouse or polytunnel.
Birmingham EnglandNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Manchester EnglandNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Bristol EnglandNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Cardiff WalesNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Edinburgh ScotlandSummers are too cool for a reliable outdoor crop. Grow it in a greenhouse or polytunnel.
Glasgow ScotlandSummers are too cool for a reliable outdoor crop. Grow it in a greenhouse or polytunnel.
Belfast Northern IrelandSummers are too cool for a reliable outdoor crop. Grow it in a greenhouse or polytunnel.
Dublin IrelandSummers are too cool for a reliable outdoor crop. Grow it in a greenhouse or polytunnel.
Calgary AlbertaNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Edmonton AlbertaNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Halifax Nova ScotiaNo outdoor window passes all the checks here; grow it under cover or try a specialist variety.
Hobart TasmaniaSummers are too cool for a reliable outdoor crop. Grow it in a greenhouse or polytunnel.

Other crops

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