When to plant bell peppers in Rockford: 28 May – 8 July

In Rockford, bell pepper: sow for seedlings from 8 March to 9 May; plant into a greenhouse from 7 May to 8 July; plant out into open ground from 28 May to 8 July. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Landscape Connection (garden centre, 7 km) and Platt Hill Nursery (garden centre, 8 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Bell Pepper in Rockford: soil, season and weather

In Rockford the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 26 April, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the bell pepper card — only around 28 May, 32 days later.

Last spring frost	26 April
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	28 May, 32 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	7 May – 8 July; May outside: 10.2 °C at night, 21.3 °C by day; card 15–30 °C
First autumn frost	28 October, 153 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	6 August – 16 September
Days left for picking	83
Daylight	12:33 on 29 March, 14:57 on 28 May
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 4 days; the driest month, August, has 11 rainy days

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

Bell Pepper in Rockford: care after planting

Planted on 28 May: in the first weeks water every 5 days.

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

28 May — feed: balanced (NPK)
25 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 Rockford 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 28.4 °C. Nights average below 15 °C in May (10.2 °C), September (14.7 °C) and October (7.9 °C).

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
May	21.3	10.2	109	14	14:34
June	27.3	16.4	100	12	15:15
July	28.4	18.5	105	12	14:59
August	27.5	17.5	82	11	13:55
September	24.7	14.7	83	9	12:32
October	17.1	7.9	93	10	11:07

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Bell Pepper in nearby cities

3 of the nearest cities share Rockford's date.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Madison	94 km	28 May – 7 July	same day
Chicago	125 km	28 May – 17 July	same day
Milwaukee	128 km	28 May – 12 July	same day
Davenport	149 km	17 May – 10 July	11 days earlier
Peoria	180 km	18 May – 11 July	10 days earlier
Cedar Rapids	219 km	20 May – 5 July	8 days earlier

Where to buy bell pepper plants and seeds near Rockford

Buy plants ready to set out from 28 May to 8 July (from 7 May to 8 July for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 8 March to 9 May. Within 15 km of Rockford OpenStreetMap lists 10 garden centres (collected 28 October 2026).

Walmart Garden Center — garden centre
7 km
Meijer Garden Center — garden centre
8 km
Landscape Connection — garden centre
South Mulford Road 4472, 61109 Rockford · 7 km
Platt Hill Nursery — garden centre
East Riverside Boulevard 6101, 61114 Rockford · 8 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