When to Plant Bell Peppers in Jacksonville, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's a good idea to plant bell peppers by reviewing the USDA zone info for Jacksonville.


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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant bell peppers
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant bell peppers
Probably not a good time to plant bell peppers

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Jacksonville 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. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your bell peppers indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Jacksonville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Jacksonville is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Jacksonville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your bell peppers in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jacksonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Jacksonville

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