When to Plant Hot Peppers
Hot peppers are a tender warm-season vegetable. Frost damages them, so they go out only after the last spring frost.
Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last spring frost, and plant out 2 to 4 weeks after the last frost. The first harvest comes about 65 to 85 days after transplanting.
Example dates
The same rules in dates for three climates, using typical frost dates. Enter your ZIP code above for the dates where you live.
| Task | Last frost Mar 15first Nov 15 | Last frost Apr 15first Oct 25 | Last frost May 15first Sep 30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start seeds indoors | Jan 18 – Feb 1 | Feb 18 – Mar 4 | Mar 20 – Apr 3 |
| Harden off | Mar 22 – 28 | Apr 22 – 28 | May 22 – 28 |
| Plant out | Mar 29 – Apr 12 | Apr 29 – May 13 | May 29 – Jun 12 |
| Harvest | Jun 2 – Aug 11 | Jul 3 – Sep 11 | Aug 2 – Oct 11 |
Growing hot peppers
Grow like bell peppers; fruit left on the plant to change colour usually gets hotter.
- Spacing: 18 in apart, in rows 30 in apart. In a raised bed, 1 per sq ft at square-foot spacing.
- Days to harvest: 65 to 85 from transplanting, then about 10 weeks of picking.
- Rotation: hot peppers are in the tomato family. Plant them where nothing from that family grew in the last two years. See crop rotation.
- Traditional companions: borage, cherry tomato, chives, garlic, green onion, leek, marigold, onion (bulb), oregano, parsley, radish, shallot, tomato. See companion plants for hot peppers.
Plan your beds with these dates
Draw your beds, tap squares to plant hot peppers and everything else, and get every crop's dates for your ZIP code in one calendar. Free, in your browser.
Open the garden plannerQuestions
When do I start hot peppers indoors?
6 to 8 weeks before the last spring frost: with a last frost of April 15, that's Feb 18 – Mar 4. Enter your ZIP code above for your own dates.
Can hot peppers go in before the last frost?
No. Hot peppers are damaged by frost: plant them out 2 to 4 weeks after the last spring frost.
How long do hot peppers take to grow?
About 65 to 85 days from transplanting to the first harvest, which then lasts about 10 weeks. Varieties differ: check the seed packet.
More planting dates
Sources
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (annual/seasonal, by station: freeze dates at 32 °F)
- Colorado State University Extension: Vegetable Planting Guide (CMG GardenNotes #720)
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech: Virginia's Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide: Recommended Planting Dates and Amounts to Plant (426-331 / SPES-673P, 2025)
- UNH Cooperative Extension: Growing Vegetables: When to Plant your Vegetable Garden (2016)
- NC State Extension: Extension Gardener Handbook, Chapter 16: Vegetable Gardening
- WSU Extension: Pacific Northwest Gardener's Handbook, Chapter 7: Vegetable Gardening
- Iowa State: Germination Requirements for Annuals and Vegetables
- Iowa State: Growing Peppers in the Home Garden
- Purdue University Extension: Starting Seeds Indoors (HO-14-W)
- Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC: Small-Scale Gardening (square-foot planting guide)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension, Kenosha County: Companion Plants for the Vegetable Garden (column, 2012)
- Oregon State University Extension Service: Herbs and Flowers in the Vegetable Garden
- Utah State University Extension, Utah 4-H: Creating Sustainable School and Home Gardens: Companion Planting (2025)
- SDSU Extension: Square-Foot Garden Sample Planting Layout (P-00379, 2026)
- Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC: Plant Partners: 5 Benefits of Companion Planting (2025)
- N.C. A&T State University Cooperative Extension: Five Veggies You Can Grow at Home