One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 Big Lake you can estimate when it's the best time 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 the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's a bad idea to 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 Big Lake is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. Starting your bell peppers indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Big Lake the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Big Lake is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Big Lake you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your bell peppers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Big Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Big Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Big Lake.