January 25, 2026

When to plant peppers outdoors

Peppers are the most temperature-sensitive vegetable most people grow. Tomatoes can take a cool night in the low 50s and shrug it off. Peppers sulk. They stop growing, their leaves turn yellow, and they sit there doing nothing for weeks until it warms up. I've learned this the hard way more than once.

So the real question isn't just "when can I put peppers outside?" It's "when is it actually warm enough that they'll grow instead of just surviving?"

The soil temperature rule

Peppers need soil temperatures of at least 65F to grow. They prefer 70-85F. Below 60F, they stop taking up nutrients effectively even if the air temperature seems fine.

Air temperature is what most people check, but soil temperature lags behind by 1-2 weeks. You can have a string of 80-degree days in late April, but if the soil is still 58F from a cold March, your peppers won't do much.

A soil thermometer costs about $10 and is worth every penny. Stick it 4 inches deep in your garden bed and check it in the morning (not afternoon, when the sun has warmed the surface). You want consistent readings above 65F for at least a week before transplanting.

Transplanting dates by zone

These are general guidelines. Your specific microclimate matters, so use these as a starting point and adjust based on your soil thermometer and weather forecast.

• Zones 3-4: Late May to mid June. You might have frost-free dates in mid May, but soil is usually too cold until late May at the earliest. Short seasons mean choosing early-maturing varieties (60-70 day peppers).
• Zone 5: Mid to late May. A common mistake here is planting on Memorial Day weekend because everyone else does. Check your soil temp first.
• Zone 6: Early to mid May. This is where most people can get peppers out in the first two weeks of May, depending on the year.
• Zone 7: Late April to early May. You have more margin here, but a late frost can still catch you.
• Zone 8: Mid to late April. Soil warms earlier, but watch for late cold fronts.
• Zones 9-10: March to early April. In south Florida and the desert Southwest, you can have peppers outside by mid March. The challenge here is heat, not cold. Peppers drop blossoms above 95F, so getting them established before summer matters.

Want dates specific to your zip code? The planting calendar calculates pepper timing based on your local frost data.

Start indoors 8-10 weeks before transplanting

Peppers are slow growers compared to tomatoes. A tomato seedling can go from seed to transplant-ready in 6 weeks. Peppers usually need 8-10 weeks, and hot peppers (habaneros, ghost peppers, superhots) can take 12 weeks.

If you're in zone 6 and plan to transplant in mid May, count back 10 weeks. That puts your seed starting date around early March. Zone 5 gardeners starting in late May should sow seeds in mid to late March.

Pepper seeds germinate best at 80-85F. The top of a refrigerator, a seedling heat mat, or a warm spot near a vent all work. At room temperature (68-72F), germination takes 2-3 weeks. With bottom heat, more like 7-10 days.

Hardening off (don't skip this)

Hardening off is the process of gradually exposing indoor seedlings to outdoor conditions. It matters more for peppers than almost any other vegetable because they're so sensitive to temperature swings and wind.

Here's what works for me:

• Day 1-2: Set plants outside in a shady, sheltered spot for 2-3 hours. Bring them in.
• Day 3-4: Give them morning sun for 3-4 hours, still sheltered from wind.
• Day 5-6: Full morning sun, some afternoon sun, 5-6 hours total.
• Day 7-8: Full sun, all day. Leave them out overnight if nights are above 55F.
• Day 9-10: Leave them out full time. Transplant on day 10 if weather looks stable.

If you skip hardening off or rush it, the leaves get sunburned (white papery patches) and the plant goes into shock. I've seen peppers lose every leaf after going straight from a grow light to full sun. They recover eventually, but you lose 2-3 weeks of growth.

Transplanting tips

Transplant on a cloudy day or in late afternoon. This gives the plants overnight to settle in before facing full sun.

Unlike tomatoes, peppers shouldn't be buried deep. Plant them at the same depth they were growing in the pot, or just slightly deeper (up to the first set of true leaves at most). Peppers don't produce adventitious roots along buried stems the way tomatoes do.

Space bell peppers 18 inches apart. Hot peppers can go a bit closer, 12-15 inches. Water well after transplanting and consider a diluted fish emulsion feed (half strength) to ease the transition.

What about buying transplants from a nursery?

Perfectly fine option, especially if you missed your indoor seed starting window. The same rules apply for transplanting timing. Don't buy pepper plants and put them out immediately just because the garden center is selling them. Garden centers start selling pepper plants when foot traffic picks up, not necessarily when it's safe to plant them.

If you buy transplants early and it's still too cold, keep them in a sunny window or under a grow light. Pot them up to a 4-inch pot if they're in a small cell pack. They can wait a few weeks indoors without problems.

Signs you planted too early

If your pepper plants have been in the ground for two weeks and look exactly the same as when you planted them, the soil is probably too cold. The leaves might have a slight purple tinge, which is a sign of phosphorus uptake problems caused by cold soil.

There's not much you can do at that point except wait. They usually start growing once soil temperatures catch up. But you've lost time compared to waiting and planting into warm soil. The pepper planted two weeks later into 70F soil will often catch up to and pass the one planted early into 58F soil.

Patience pays off with peppers more than any other garden crop. Wait for warm soil, harden off properly, and you'll have plants loaded with fruit by midsummer.