One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

It's possible to figure out when to plant bell peppers by looking at the USDA zone info for Marana.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

Frost tolerance for bell peppers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Bell Peppers are not cold tolerant which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Marana is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. If you wait any later than that and your bell peppers may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your bell peppers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Marana the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Marana is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Marana you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your bell peppers in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Marana

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Marana

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