Choosing the Right Pepper Variety for Your Climate

The Short Answer by Climate

The right pepper variety is one that finishes inside your warm season and sets fruit at your summer temperatures. Most sweet and hot peppers need 70 to 85 days from transplanting, and habanero types need 90 to 120. For a cool or short summer, Oregon State University Extension names California Wonder and Yolo Wonder as two of its most dependable bells, and Early Jalapeño appears on both the Oregon and Utah lists. For a long, hot and humid season, Clemson’s South Carolina list runs from the bells Jupiter and Capistrano to cayennes such as Charleston Hot and to habaneros.

The rest of this page shows how to check any variety against your own season, then gives the named lists region by region.

Count the Days Before You Pick a Variety

The days-to-maturity number on a seed packet or plant tag counts from transplanting. University of Maryland Extension gives these ranges:

• Most sweet and hot types: 70 to 85 days from transplanting.
• Bell peppers: a mature green stage at 70 to 80 days, then an additional 2 to 3 weeks to fully ripen to their final color.
• Habanero types: 90 to 120 days from transplanting to ripe.

Clemson gives the same 70 to 85 days after transplanting and puts the total from seed at 100 to 120 days.

Now find the start of your window. Peppers go out after the danger of frost is past and once the soil has warmed. Oregon State and Utah State both set the soil threshold at 60°F, and Maryland warns that plants set out before the soil reaches 65°F will sit without growing. In central Iowa the suggested planting date is mid-May. Count forward from your own date to your average first fall frost. If the count is short of a variety’s number plus the ripening weeks, choose a faster one or plan to pick green.

Seed starting adds time in front. Clemson and Iowa State say to sow indoors 6 to 8 weeks before planting out. Maryland and Utah State allow 8 to 10 weeks, and Maryland notes that some types and cultivars require 12. A seed-starting light helps for a crop that spends that long indoors, and seedlings need hardening off before they go out.

Temperatures That Stop Fruit Set

A long season is no help if the plants refuse to set fruit. Clemson says peppers grow best at 70 to 85°F during the day and 60 to 70°F at night. Outside that range the flowers suffer, and extension services draw the lines in slightly different places:

• Iowa State: bell pepper flowers may abort and drop off when night temperatures fall below 60°F or daytime temperatures climb above 85°F.
• Utah State: with nights lower than 55°F or days above 90°F, fruits do not set and flowers abort.
• Maryland: very hot weather, especially evening temperatures above 75°F, will slow or stop pod production.
• Oregon State: some cultivars will not even flower if temperatures drop below 60°F.

Read those against your own summer. Gardeners with cool nights lose fruit set at the low end, which is the main limit in the maritime Northwest and at elevation. Gardeners in the Southeast lose it at the high end in midsummer, when evenings stay warm.

Recommended Varieties by Region

Each list below comes from the state extension service named, so it reflects what has grown well in that state’s conditions. Check the tag or packet for the day count of the variety you buy, since the lists do not give one.

Region and source	Sweet peppers	Hot peppers
Oregon, cool summers (Oregon State)	California Wonder, Yolo Wonder, Early Cal Wonder, Bell Boy, Gypsy; Italian types Carmen and Stocky Red Roaster	Early Jalapeño, Conchos, Anaheim College 64, Ancho, Tiburon
Utah, short season with hot days (Utah State)	Ace, Bell Boy, Big Bertha, California Wonder, Gypsy, King Arthur, Banana Supreme	Early Jalapeño, Hungarian Yellow Wax, Anaheim, NuMex Big Jim, Serrano Hot, Long Thin Cayenne, Habanero
Iowa, Midwest (Iowa State)	Aristotle, Bell Boy	Cajun Belle, Habanero Orange
South Carolina, hot and humid (Clemson)	Bells Capistrano, Jupiter, Plato, Antebellum, Valencia, Vanguard; Sweet Banana, Cubanelle, Banana Supreme	Jalapeno M, Tula, Mitla, Fooled You; Carolina Cayenne, Charleston Hot, Long Slim Cayenne, Super Cayenne II; Habanero, Tiger Paw NR

A few names repeat. Bell Boy is on the Oregon, Utah and Iowa lists. California Wonder, Gypsy and Early Jalapeño are on both the Oregon and Utah lists, and Banana Supreme is recommended in both Utah and South Carolina. A variety that shows up in more than one climate is a reasonable first choice when your own state has no list.

Iowa State’s list also gives heat ratings, which shows how wide the hot category is. It rates Cajun Belle at 100 to 1,000 Scoville heat units and Habanero Orange at 200,000 to 350,000.

Cool or Short Summers

In a cool climate the task is to add heat and to pick varieties that are proven locally. Oregon State’s guide calls California Wonder and Yolo Wonder two of the most dependable producers in the state, and its jalapeño list includes Early Jalapeño.

Warm the site before and after planting. Utah State notes that black plastic mulch warms the soil and that row covers enhance growth and earliness. Oregon State recommends low hoops covered with row cover fabric or greenhouse plastic for additional warmth, with the covers removed or vented when the temperature inside exceeds 90°F. Hold off on organic mulches such as straw until the soil has warmed to 75°F, as Utah State advises, because they keep cool soil cool. Tomatoes wait on soil temperature in the same way, as our guide to when to plant tomatoes outside explains.

Habanero types are the hard case. At 90 to 120 days from transplanting they need most of a short season to ripen, so they suit a protected spot or a container that can be moved under cover.

Long, Hot Seasons

A long season removes the day-count limit and makes fully colored bells and slow hot peppers realistic. South Carolina shows what that looks like. Clemson’s planting dates for the Coastal region are April 1 to May 15 for a spring crop and July 10 to August 10 for a second, fall crop. In the cooler Piedmont it lists a single window, May 1 to June 30.

The limit in these climates is midsummer heat. With evenings above 75°F, pod production slows or stops, and flowers abort once days climb above 85°F by Iowa State’s figure or 90°F by Utah State’s. A fall planting like the one Clemson schedules for the coast moves flowering into cooler weather. Clemson’s list for this climate is also heavier on hot types, with four cayennes and four jalapeños alongside the bells.

Spacing and Soil for Any Variety

Spacing recommendations vary a little between states. Clemson sets plants 12 inches apart in rows 3 feet apart. Iowa State and Utah State both use 18 inches between plants. Clemson recommends keeping soil pH between 6.0 and 6.5, based on a soil test. Iowa State notes that peppers prefer an inch of water per week through the growing season.