One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when to plant bell peppers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Hawthorne.

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.

You can not 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 Hawthorne 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your bell peppers indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Hawthorne and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Hawthorne it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your bell peppers if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hawthorne

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Hawthorne

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