One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant bell peppers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Oneonta.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

Frost tolerance for bell peppers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since bell peppers do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Oneonta is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant bell peppers and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your bell peppers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your bell peppers indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Oneonta. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Oneonta may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Oneonta it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your bell peppers if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Oneonta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Oneonta

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oneonta.