Plant Pulse

When to plant Sweet pepper in Colombo

When to plant Sweet pepper in Colombo. Stored windows: Year round (Year round). Ranges from different sources are not averaged.

Unverified — based on HORDI Crop - Capsicum, Department of Agriculture Sri Lanka, accessed 2026-10-20: https://doa.gov.lk/hordi-crop-capsicum/; confirm for your microclimate.

Stored planting windows

  • Year round: Year round

    Transplant

    Using 75 stored days. First harvest is about 75 days after planting. Calculated from the stored day count and the planting month. It is not a separate harvest calendar. Farmer field experience. Using 75–90 stored days. First harvest is about 75–90 days after planting. Calculated from the stored day count and the planting month. It is not a separate harvest calendar.

    HORDI says capsicum can be cultivated in most agro-ecological zones throughout the year, with supplementary irrigation in dry periods. The same Planting section also lists Yala as April and May and Maha as November and December, and says it can be cultivated throughout the year under irrigation or rain shelters. Those two pairs are not stored as extra windows because the year-round statement already fills every month.

    Unverified — based on HORDI Crop - Capsicum, Department of Agriculture Sri Lanka, accessed 2026-10-20: https://doa.gov.lk/hordi-crop-capsicum/; confirm for your microclimate.

Season ranges

Two or more season ranges are stored. They are not joined. A month is marked only when it falls inside a stored range.

  • Yala is stored from more than one source, and the months do not match. Yala (FAO) is Mar–Aug. Yala (National Drought Plan) is Apr–Sep. Both ranges are shown. They are not averaged.
  • Maha is stored from more than one source, and the months do not match. Maha (FAO) is Sep–Feb. Maha (National Drought Plan) is Oct–Mar. Both ranges are shown. They are not averaged.

Rainfall seasons

  1. First inter-monsoon: Mar–Apr (Rainfall)

    Climate of Sri Lanka, Department of Meteorology, accessed 2026-10-20: https://meteo.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=310&lang=en

  2. Southwest monsoon: May–Sep (Rainfall)

    Climate of Sri Lanka, Department of Meteorology, accessed 2026-10-20: https://meteo.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=310&lang=en

  3. Second inter-monsoon: Oct–Nov (Rainfall)

    Climate of Sri Lanka, Department of Meteorology, accessed 2026-10-20: https://meteo.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=310&lang=en

  4. Northeast monsoon: Dec–Feb (Rainfall)

    Climate of Sri Lanka, Department of Meteorology, accessed 2026-10-20: https://meteo.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=310&lang=en

Agricultural seasons

  1. Yala (FAO): Mar–Aug (Agricultural)

    Improvement of plant nutrient management for better farmer livelihood, food security and environment in Sri Lanka, J.D.H. Wijewardena, Department of Agriculture, hosted by FAO, accessed 2026-10-20: https://www.fao.org/4/ag120e/AG120E12.htm

  2. Maha (FAO): Sep–Feb (Agricultural)

    Improvement of plant nutrient management for better farmer livelihood, food security and environment in Sri Lanka, J.D.H. Wijewardena, Department of Agriculture, hosted by FAO, accessed 2026-10-20: https://www.fao.org/4/ag120e/AG120E12.htm

  3. Yala (National Drought Plan): Apr–Sep (Agricultural)

    National Drought Plan for Sri Lanka, Ministry of Environment, September 2020, accessed 2026-10-20: https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/country_profile_documents/NDP%20of%20Sri%20Lanka-Final%20Report-Sept%202020.pdf

  4. Maha (National Drought Plan): Oct–Mar (Agricultural)

    National Drought Plan for Sri Lanka, Ministry of Environment, September 2020, accessed 2026-10-20: https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/country_profile_documents/NDP%20of%20Sri%20Lanka-Final%20Report-Sept%202020.pdf

Methodology

Where do these planting months come from?
Each range is a stored planting window for this crop and climate. A month that is not listed has no stored window. It is not a recommendation to skip planting.
Why can the same season appear more than once?
When two sources give different months for the same season, both ranges are listed. They are not averaged, and the gap between them is not filled in.
How are grower notes different from official windows?
Farmer field notes are labelled Farmer field experience, with the month they were noted. They are not official department windows, and they are not yet verified against official sources.

Sweet pepper crop page · Planting calendar for Sweet pepper in Colombo