When to Plant Peppers in Kentucky: Earliest and Latest Dates by Region
Planting dates for peppers from University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension in Kentucky, with 50% frost dates from NOAA for Louisville International Airport, Lexington Bluegrass Airport, and Bowling Green Warren County Airport and one worked case.
Updated
Figures checked against their sources on ; next check .
For peppers, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension prints 3 regions under the heading “Peppers (plants)”; the table below copies each entry as printed. Eastern Kentucky starts latest, on May 20, while Western Kentucky starts on May 1: 19 days between the two. The row is labelled “(plants)”, so its dates are for transplants.
Kentucky’s dates, row by row
Kentucky’s own transplant table, Table 20.6, lists pepper at 6-8 weeks from seeding to transplanting and an average seedling date of Mar. 10.
| Region | Earliest safe planting date | Latest safe planting date |
|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky | May 1 | July 15 |
| Central Kentucky | May 10 | July 1 |
| Eastern Kentucky | May 20 | June 15 |
What to know about this source
The University of Kentucky’s home vegetable gardening chapter gives each crop an earliest and a latest safe planting date for Western, Central and Eastern Kentucky. A note under the table says the latest dates are based on early-maturing varieties, and that mid-season and late-maturing varieties need to be planted 15 to 30 days earlier than the latest date.
Starting peppers indoors
How early to sow indoors depends on the crop more than the state, and the saved sources agree on the shape if not the numbers; UNH’s figure is 8 to 10 weeks.
Peppers take longer than tomatoes in every source that gives both: UMN says 9 weeks and UGA 8, against 5 to 6 and 6 for tomatoes. NDSU and Montana State, saved here for tomatoes only, say nothing about peppers.
Once the seedlings are ready, UNH says peppers are safe to set out 2 weeks after the last frost, after hardening off.
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| University of New Hampshire | 8 to 10 weeks from seed to transplant; 2 weeks after the last frost is safe to set out |
| University of Minnesota | Mid-March in Minnesota, 9 weeks indoors |
| NC State | Any transplant: seed 6 to 8 weeks before setting out (central North Carolina calendar) |
| University of Georgia | 8 weeks from seed to transplant size (middle Georgia calendar) |
Frost dates for Kentucky cities
NOAA’s 1991-2020 normals give nine probability levels for each station; the table keeps only the middle one, the even-odds date, and the links open the rest.
No city is assigned to a region below, because the source does not assign them.
| Station | Last spring 32°F | First fall 32°F | Region in the calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville International Airport, Kentucky | March 31 | November 7 | Not stated by the source |
| Lexington Bluegrass Airport, Kentucky | April 13 | October 28 | Not stated by the source |
| Bowling Green Warren County Airport, Kentucky | April 5 | October 31 | Not stated by the source |
| London Corbin Airport, Kentucky | April 15 | October 25 | Not stated by the source |
Worked example
For a gardener near Lexington Bluegrass Airport, NOAA’s even-odds frost dates are April 13 in spring and October 28 in fall.
The calendar does not say which region Lexington Bluegrass Airport belongs to, so set the date against the rows at each end. Western Kentucky opens May 1, 18 days after that date; Eastern Kentucky opens May 20, 37 days after it.
On the fall side, Eastern Kentucky’s last planting date of June 15 leaves 135 days before the October 28 median first freeze.
Treat the result as a way to see how far the printed dates sit from a real frost record. Your yard may run weeks off the station, so repeat the sum with the station closest to you.
Before you rely on these dates
The chapter says its planting dates are approximate and should be adjusted to local weather.
Treat the table as a starting range and look at the ten-day forecast before setting out anything tender.
Sources (6)
- University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service (editor Richard Durham), Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky, ID-128, revised January 2024 publications.mgcafe.uky.edu
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, annual and seasonal normals (frost/freeze probabilities by station) ncei.noaa.gov
- University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, Growing Vegetables: When to Plant Your Vegetable Garden (fact sheet) extension.unh.edu
- University of Minnesota Extension, Starting seeds indoors (page reviewed 2026) extension.umn.edu
- NC State Extension (Bradley, Gunter, Sherk and Driscoll), Central North Carolina Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs, AG-756-01, published July 8, 2016 content.ces.ncsu.edu
- University of Georgia Cooperative Extension (Bob Westerfield), Vegetable Garden Calendar, Circular 943, published with full review March 10, 2026 extension.uga.edu