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.

In Columbus you can determine when you can plant bell peppers by using 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.

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

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Columbus 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. Any later than that and your bell peppers may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Columbus. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbus is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Columbus last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your bell peppers in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbus

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