When to plant bell peppers in Rochester: 2 June – 23 July

In Rochester, bell pepper: sow for seedlings from 13 March to 24 May; plant into a greenhouse from 12 May to 23 July; plant out into open ground from 2 June to 23 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Herman's Farm Market & Cider Mill (farm shop, 14 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Bell Pepper in Rochester: soil, season and weather

In Rochester the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 20 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the bell pepper card — only around 2 June, 43 days later.

Last spring frost	20 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	2 June, 43 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	12 May – 23 July; May outside: 9.8 °C at night, 18.3 °C by day; card 15–30 °C
First autumn frost	12 November, 163 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	11 August – 1 October
Days left for picking	93
Daylight	12:48 on 3 April, 15:10 on 2 June
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 4 days; the driest month, September, has 10 rainy days

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

Bell Pepper in Rochester: care after planting

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

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

2 June — feed: balanced (NPK)
30 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 Rochester during the bell pepper season

No month of the season averages above the bell pepper card's 15–30 °C by day; the warmest, July, averages 27.2 °C. Months that stay below 15 °C even by day on average: November (9.4 °C). Nights average below 15 °C in October (9.8 °C) and November (2.9 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
June	24	15.6	79	11	15:22
July	27.2	19.2	98	12	15:05
August	26.2	18.6	92	13	13:59
September	23.2	15.3	76	10	12:33
October	16.9	9.8	123	14	11:06
November	9.4	2.9	90	14	9:44

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Bell Pepper in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant bell pepper earlier than Rochester; the closest date is in Hamilton, 1 day earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Buffalo	106 km	29 May – 21 July	4 days earlier
Syracuse (United States)	121 km	31 May – 17 July	2 days earlier
Ithaca	121 km	31 May – 19 July	2 days earlier
Toronto	153 km	29 May – 10 July	4 days earlier
Hamilton	181 km	1 June – 18 July	1 day earlier
Erie	231 km	30 May – 30 July	3 days earlier

Where to buy bell pepper plants and seeds near Rochester

Buy plants ready to set out from 2 June to 23 July (from 12 May to 23 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 13 March to 24 May. Within 15 km of Rochester OpenStreetMap lists 8 garden centres, 7 markets and 2 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Village Gate Square — market
North Goodman Street 274, 14607 Rochester · 3 km · villagegatesquare.com
Gro-Moore Farms — market
East Henrietta Road 2811, 14467 Henrietta · 10 km
Rochester Public Market Shed A — market
Tue, Thu 06:00–12:00 · 3 km
Herman's Farm Market & Cider Mill — farm shop
Five Mile Line Road 741, 14580 Webster · Mon–Sun 09:00–18:00 · 14 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.

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