When to Plant Bell Peppers in Greenbelt, MD

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 estimate when it's a good idea to plant bell peppers by looking at the USDA zone info for Greenbelt.


Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

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

Bell Peppers require warm weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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 Greenbelt 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. If you wait any later than that and your bell peppers may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your bell peppers indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Greenbelt. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Greenbelt is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Greenbelt you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your bell peppers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Greenbelt

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Greenbelt

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