When to plant bell peppers in Harrisburg: 25 May – 22 July

In Harrisburg, bell pepper: sow for seedlings from 5 March to 23 May; plant into a greenhouse from 4 May to 22 July; plant out into open ground from 25 May to 22 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Stauffers of Kissel Hill (garden centre, 13 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Bell Pepper in Harrisburg: soil, season and weather

In Harrisburg the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 10 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the bell pepper card — only around 25 May, 45 days later.

Last spring frost	10 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	25 May, 45 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	4 May – 22 July; May outside: 11.4 °C at night, 22.2 °C by day; card 15–30 °C
First autumn frost	11 November, 170 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	3 August – 30 September
Days left for picking	100
Daylight	12:23 on 26 March, 14:41 on 25 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 4 days; the driest month, November, has 7 rainy days

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

Bell Pepper in Harrisburg: care after planting

Planted on 25 May: in the first weeks water every 5 days.

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

25 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
22 June — 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 Harrisburg during the bell pepper season

Days average above the bell pepper card's 15–30 °C in July (31 °C). Months that stay below 15 °C even by day on average: November (11.8 °C). Nights average below 15 °C in May (11.4 °C), October (9.7 °C) and November (2.9 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	22.2	11.4	121	15	14:24
June	27.6	16.5	97	13	15:02
July	31	20.1	126	13	14:47
August	29	19	110	12	13:48
September	25.4	15.7	111	10	12:30
October	19.3	9.7	79	9	11:11
November	11.8	2.9	70	7	9:58

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Bell Pepper in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant bell pepper earlier than Harrisburg; the closest date is in Hagerstown, 2 days earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Hagerstown	103 km	23 May – 22 July	2 days earlier
Baltimore	111 km	5 May – 2 August	20 days earlier
Allentown	124 km	23 May – 14 July	2 days earlier
Annapolis	148 km	8 May – 30 July	17 days earlier
Philadelphia	150 km	14 May – 22 July	11 days earlier
Washington, D.C.	152 km	4 May – 27 July	21 days earlier

Where to buy bell pepper plants and seeds near Harrisburg

Buy plants ready to set out from 25 May to 22 July (from 4 May to 22 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 5 March to 23 May. Within 15 km of Harrisburg OpenStreetMap lists 4 garden centres, 4 markets and 3 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

Brick Building — market
1 km
Stone Building — market
1 km
Peach Ridge Produce — farm shop
1 km
Stauffers of Kissel Hill — garden centre
Gettysburg Pike 51, 17055 Mechanicsburg · 13 km · skh.com

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.

Questions