Plant Peppers in Zone 9b

Zone 9b averages 298 frost-free days, running from a last spring frost around February 15 to a first fall frost around December 10. Peppers needs roughly 80 days from planting out to first harvest, so it uses about 27 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 21, about 8 weeks ahead of the Zone 9b last frost. Transplants go out around Mar 1. Starting earlier than that in Zone 9b usually backfires: plants outgrow their cells and stall when they finally hit cold soil. At 80 days to harvest, a 298-day Zone 9b season has room for about 3 sowings, so stagger them rather than planting everything at once.

Yes. Sow peppers by August 24 in Zone 9b. 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.