One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

In Cerritos you can figure out when to plant bell peppers by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

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

It's not a good idea to plant bell peppers until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Cerritos is February. However, you really should wait until March 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. 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 couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Cerritos. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 35°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cerritos and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Cerritos last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your bell peppers if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Cerritos

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Cerritos

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