One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

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

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.

It's not a good idea to plant bell peppers until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Lafayette 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. Any later than that and 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

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Lafayette. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lafayette is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Lafayette last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to cover your bell peppers if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lafayette

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 Lafayette

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