Plant Peppers in Zone 10a

Zone 10a averages 323 frost-free days, running from a last spring frost around January 31 to a first fall frost around December 20. Peppers needs roughly 80 days from planting out to first harvest, so it uses about 25 percent of that window. Peppers is a tender crop, which is what decides where in the window it belongs.

Because peppers needs a head start, sow seed indoors around Dec 6, about 8 weeks ahead of the Zone 10a last frost. Transplants go out around Feb 14. Starting earlier than that in Zone 10a usually backfires: plants outgrow their cells and stall when they finally hit cold soil. At 80 days to harvest, a 323-day Zone 10a season has room for about 3 sowings, so stagger them rather than planting everything at once.

Yes. Sow peppers by September 3 in Zone 10a. That is 108 days before the average first frost, which covers the 80 days to maturity plus about two weeks for the slower growth that comes with shortening days, plus a two week margin because frost kills peppers outright.

Peppers set fruit poorly above 90 degrees, so a late-summer planting often out-produces the spring one in hot-summer zones.