When to plant bell peppers in Riverside: 2 April – 29 August

In Riverside, bell pepper: sow for seedlings from 11 January to 30 June; plant into a greenhouse from 12 March to 29 August; plant out into open ground from 2 April to 29 August.

Bell Pepper in Riverside: soil, season and weather

In Riverside the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 12 January, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the bell pepper card — only around 2 April, 80 days later.

Last spring frost	12 January
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	2 April, 80 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	12 March – 29 August; March outside: 9 °C at night, 21.5 °C by day; card 15–30 °C
First autumn frost	19 December, 261 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	11 June – 7 November
Days left for picking	191
Daylight	10:32 on 1 February, 12:34 on 2 April
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 4 days; the driest month, June, has 0 rainy days

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

Bell Pepper in Riverside: care after planting

Planted on 2 April: in the first weeks water every 5 days.

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

2 April — feed: balanced (NPK)
30 April — 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 Riverside during the bell pepper season

Days average above the bell pepper card's 15–30 °C in June–September (31.9–35.7 °C). Nights average below 15 °C in April, May and October–December (7.8–14.6 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
April	25.8	11.3	19	3	13:01
May	27.2	13	9	3	13:55
June	31.9	15.4	1	0	14:24
July	35.1	18.1	2	0	14:13
August	35.7	18.9	6	1	13:27
September	33.6	17.9	14	2	12:25
October	29.8	14.6	13	3	11:22
November	24.8	10.5	35	3	10:25
December	20.3	7.8	69	5	9:55

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Bell Pepper in nearby cities

Around Riverside, Phoenix is 38 days earlier and Santa Barbara 42 days later.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Bakersfield	217 km	2 April – 24 August	same day
Santa Barbara	218 km	14 May – 25 August	42 days later
Ensenada	243 km	29 March – 24 August	4 days earlier
Las Vegas	321 km	1 April – 22 August	1 day earlier
Fresno	378 km	10 April – 15 August	8 days later
Phoenix	496 km	23 February – 8 September	38 days earlier

Where to buy bell pepper plants and seeds near Riverside

Buy plants ready to set out from 2 April to 29 August (from 12 March to 29 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 11 January to 30 June. Within 15 km of Riverside OpenStreetMap lists 4 garden centres, 30 plant nurseries, 7 markets and 10 farm shops (collected 28 October 2026).

Herba Nursery — plant nursery
3 km
Paradise Garden Center — plant nursery
3 km
Greenland Nurseries — plant nursery
4 km
The Landscape Center Nurseries — plant nursery
4 km

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