When to Plant Peppers in North Carolina: Spring and Fall Windows for Central NC
One North Carolina calendar, one crop: peppers, with the source’s dates left as printed and NOAA frost dates for Raleigh Durham International Airport, Piedmont Triad International Airport, and Charlotte Douglas Airport.
Updated
Figures checked against their sources on ; next check .
For peppers, NC State Extension prints a single part of the state; the table below copies each entry as printed. This calendar is coarser than most: Central North Carolina (Apr 15 to Jun 1 (transplant)).
Peppers: the North Carolina table
The cells below are the source’s text, unedited.
| Part of the state | Spring windows | Fall windows |
|---|---|---|
| Central North Carolina | Apr 15 to Jun 1 (transplant) | Aug 1 (transplant) |
Reading the NC State Extension table
It says the dates are suggested guidelines that should give the highest probability of success, and that plants established in the middle of the recommended dates will do best. Planting additional plants every few weeks within the window, the page adds, extends the harvest over a greater period.
Starting peppers indoors
None of the figures in this section belong to North Carolina. They are general: UNH, for one, puts the time from seed to transplant at 8 to 10 weeks.
Where a source covers both crops, peppers need more indoor time: 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 North Carolina cities
Each date below is NOAA’s 50% level, meaning the last spring 32°F night lands on or after it in half the years, and the first fall night lands on or before it in half. The tool linked beside each city shows the other nine levels.
The last column maps a station to a region only where NC State Extension or its county list settles it.
| Station | Last spring 32°F | First fall 32°F | Region in North Carolina’s calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh Durham International Airport, North Carolina | March 31 | November 4 | Central North Carolina |
| Piedmont Triad International Airport, North Carolina | March 30 | November 5 | Central North Carolina |
| Charlotte Douglas Airport, North Carolina | March 30 | November 3 | Central North Carolina |
| Fayetteville Regional Airport, North Carolina | March 22 | November 13 | Central North Carolina |
| Asheville Regional Airport, North Carolina | April 9 | October 28 | Not stated by the source |
Worked example
Start from Piedmont Triad International Airport: the station’s median last spring freeze is March 30, and its median first fall freeze is November 5.
Central North Carolina’s window for peppers runs from April 15 to June 1. The opening falls 16 days after the median last freeze, and the close 63 days after it.
On the fall side, Central North Carolina’s last planting date of August 1 leaves 96 days before the November 5 median first freeze.
Do the same subtraction for your own town: choose its nearest station in the frost dates tool, take the 50% dates, and compare them with the row for your part of North Carolina.
Before you rely on these dates
The calendar is for central North Carolina only; the mountains and the coast run earlier or later, and the page gives no dates for them.
Soil that is cold or soaked can hold a crop back even inside the printed window, so check the ground as well as the calendar.
Sources (5)
- 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
- 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
- University of Georgia Cooperative Extension (Bob Westerfield), Vegetable Garden Calendar, Circular 943, published with full review March 10, 2026 extension.uga.edu