When to plant bell peppers in Essen: 3 June – 1 August

In Essen, bell pepper: sow for seedlings from 14 March to 2 June; plant into a greenhouse from 13 May to 1 August; plant out into open ground from 3 June to 1 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Friedhofsgärtnerei Bylsma GmbH (garden centre, 4 km) and Wolfgang's Staudengarten (garden centre, 6 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Bell Pepper in Essen: soil, season and weather

In Essen the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 6 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the bell pepper card — only around 3 June, 58 days later.

Last spring frost	6 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	3 June, 58 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	13 May – 1 August; May outside: 9 °C at night, 19 °C by day; card 15–30 °C
First autumn frost	21 November, 171 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	12 August – 10 October
Days left for picking	101
Daylight	13:07 on 4 April, 16:21 on 3 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 4 days; the driest month, August, has 13 rainy days

The same dates in Essen hold for Cucumber, Eggplant, Zucchini, Pumpkin and Watermelon.

Bell Pepper in Essen: care after planting

Planted on 3 June: in the first weeks water every 5 days.

Feeding, by the card’s schedule from that day:

3 June — feed: balanced (NPK)
1 July — feed: nitrogen

Pests and diseases of bell pepper to watch for:

Dates count from the first planting day of the window above; a later planting moves them by as many days.

Weather in Essen during the bell pepper season

No month of the season averages above the bell pepper card's 15–30 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 24.1 °C. Months that stay below 15 °C even by day on average: November (9.7 °C). Nights average below 15 °C in every month of the season, from 4.3 °C to 14.7 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	23.2	13.5	72	11	16:36
July	23.7	14.4	73	13	16:12
August	24.1	14.7	66	13	14:39
September	20.4	11.8	80	11	12:42
October	15.5	9.1	87	14	10:45
November	9.7	4.3	69	13	8:54

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Bell Pepper in nearby cities

Around Essen, Münster is 2 days earlier and Dortmund 2 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Bochum	15 km	3 June – 31 July	same day
Duisburg	18 km	3 June – 2 August	same day
Düsseldorf	30 km	3 June – 1 August	same day
Dortmund	32 km	5 June – 27 July	2 days later
Cologne	58 km	3 June – 31 July	same day
Münster	70 km	1 June – 1 August	2 days earlier

Where to buy bell pepper plants and seeds near Essen

Buy plants ready to set out from 3 June to 1 August (from 13 May to 1 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 14 March to 2 June. Within 15 km of Essen OpenStreetMap lists 49 garden centres, 1 farm-supply shop, 5 plant nurseries, 43 markets and 27 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

OBI Gartencenter — garden centre
Beuler Höhe 6, 45525 Hattingen · Mon–Sat 08:00–20:00; Sun, public holidays closed · 14 km · obi.de
Friedhofsgärtnerei Bylsma GmbH — garden centre
Dachstraße 14a, 45355 Essen · 4 km · bylsma-gmbh.de
Wolfgang's Staudengarten — garden centre
Alexanderstraße 21, 45472 Mülheim an der Ruhr · Mon–Fri 08:00–18:30; Sat 08:00–16:00; Sun 10:00–13:00 · 6 km
Scheidtmann GmbH Handelsgärtnerei — garden centre
Maasstraße 12, 45239 Essen · 8 km · scheidtmann-essen.de

Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

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