One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

One way of figuring out when to plant bell peppers is to refer to the USDA zone info for Elkhorn.

Planting Calendar for Bell Peppers

Frost tolerance for bell peppers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

You can not plant bell peppers until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant bell peppers in Elkhorn 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 few weeks earlier by starting your bell peppers indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Elkhorn. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Elkhorn may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Elkhorn you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your bell peppers if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elkhorn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Elkhorn

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