When to plant chili pepper in San Diego

Local planting windows for Chili pepper in San Diego. Frost-free days: 365. Chili pepper in San Diego is a good fit outdoors. The suitable growing window of 220 days covers the 60–100 days this plant usually needs.

Chili pepper

How to grow Chili pepper San Diego climate Weekly temperatures and windows

Where are you growing?

Tight fit

Tight fit in greenhouse

Tight fit in a cold frame

Chili pepper in San Diego is a good fit outdoors. The suitable growing window of 220 days covers the 60–100 days this plant usually needs.

Start indoors: July 30 – September 23
Transplant outside: October 1 – November 25
Harvest: November 30 – March 5
Season vs crop: 220 grow days vs 60–100 needed

Chili pepper in San Diego is a good fit outdoors. The suitable growing window of 220 days covers the 60–100 days this plant usually needs.

Planting conditions

Start indoors
Harden off
Transplant outside
Grow outdoors
Harvest

Local activity windows for this place and growing method. Blue fill is usually too cold for this plant.

Suitable growing days in a row220

Days to harvest60–100 days from transplant

Jul 30 – Sep 23

Start indoors

Sep 24 – Sep 30

Harden off

October 1

Transplant outside

Oct 2 – Nov 29

Grow outdoors

Nov 30 – Mar 5

Harvest

Activity	Window	Notes
Start indoors	Jul 30 – Sep 23	Sow indoors before the outdoor window.
Harden off	Sep 24 – Sep 30	Acclimate seedlings outdoors before planting.
Transplant outside	October 1	Move plants outside on this day (start of the plant-out window).
Grow outdoors	Oct 2 – Nov 29	Plants grow outdoors until harvest.
Harvest	Nov 30 – Mar 5	Expected harvest from typical days to harvest.

Start indoors
Harden off
Transplant outside
Grow outdoors
Harvest

Blue fill is usually too cold for this plant. Adjust a week or two for your conditions.

Planting and growing across the year

Planting is the sow / plant-out window. Growing is daytime air versus this plant’s ideal (21 – 32 °C70 – 90 °F21 – 32 °C (70 – 90 °F)) and tolerable (16 – 35 °C61 – 95 °F16 – 35 °C (61 – 95 °F)) ranges.

Ideal / plantable
Tolerable
Too cold
Too hot
Outside window

Planting uses sow / plant-out rules; growing shows daytime air against this plant’s ideal and tolerable ranges.

Key dates

Frost-free days365

Earliest indoor seed startJuly 30

Latest indoor seed startSeptember 23

Transplant outdoorsOctober 1 – November 25

Direct sow windownot recommended here

Suitable growing windowMarch 5 – October 10 (220 days)

Expected harvestNovember 30 – March 5

How these dates are judged

Ideal conditions: Daytime air from 21 – 32 °C70 – 90 °F21 – 32 °C (70 – 90 °F).
Suitable conditions: Daytime air from 16 – 35 °C61 – 95 °F16 – 35 °C (61 – 95 °F).
Last frost and first frost: Typical spring and fall frost dates for San Diego, shown in the key dates.
Days to harvest: 60–100 days from transplant, from typical days to harvest.
Sowing window: Dated sow and harvest bars use frost dates, soil minima, night limits, and last-sow count-back from typical crop timing. Air ratings on the weekly chart colour only weeks inside that same window — see weekly temperatures and windows.

Other plants for San Diego

Calculated by Plan & Plant. Method. Data 35 seasons (1991–2025).

Frost and suitability dates are typical figures from climate statistics.

Based on 35 years (1991–2025) of ERA5-Land data from Open-Meteo, for an area of about 10 km. Typical dates, not a guarantee.

Dates for San Diego use ERA5-Land cell 32.72, -117.16. How we calculated this · Algorithm 2026-10-season-10.

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