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.

The first opportunity to plant bell peppers in Costa Mesa should be estimated by looking at 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.

You can not plant bell peppers until after the last frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Costa Mesa 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. If you wait any later than that and your bell peppers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your bell peppers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Costa Mesa the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Costa Mesa is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Costa Mesa there is a last frost after January 31 be ready to cover your bell peppers if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Costa Mesa

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 Costa Mesa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Costa Mesa.