When to plant Okra
Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.
Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.
Representative timing, by climate band
When to plant Okra in four US climates
Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.
| Stage |
Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY |
Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN |
Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start seed indoors | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Direct-sow outside | May 20–Jun 3 | Apr 21–May 5 | Mar 10–Mar 24 | – |
| Transplant outside | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Fall planting | Not available | Not available | Not available | – |
| Expected harvest | Jul 14–Aug 2 | Jun 15–Jul 4 | May 4–May 23 | – |
Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a very tender crop. In climates like this one, tender and very-tender crops typically go in before the hottest months arrive, not on a frost-relative schedule.
Okra goes into the ground two to four weeks after your last frost. Colorado State University Extension's tables do not cover okra at all; the classification and window shown here come from Purdue Extension's Indiana Vegetable Planting Calendar (HO-186-W), which places okra very tender and requires at least two weeks after frost with a minimum air temperature of 60 to 65°F. Purdue's soil-temperature table gives the same 60°F floor for the soil itself.
Days to maturity run 55 to 60, from Missouri Extension (G6201). NC State Extension gives an 18-to-28-day figure for okra that is excluded from this range; it reads as the interval between successive pod harvests on an established plant rather than the days from planting to first harvest, and combining the two would understate how long okra actually takes to start producing.
As a very-tender crop that also needs genuinely warm air, not just frost-free air, a cold-winter climate should treat the two-weeks-after-frost figure as a floor rather than a target, since okra stalls in cool weather even without frost; a mild-winter climate reaches that 60-to-65°F air threshold sooner and can seed correspondingly earlier.
Okra is a direct-seed crop at most nurseries, sold as seed rather than as transplants, since it germinates readily once the soil is warm enough and transplants poorly once its taproot has formed.
Frost hardiness
Very tender. Killed by even light frost or cold soil. Plant well after the last frost date, once soil has warmed.
Minimum soil temperature
60°F
For direct sowing/germination, where an Extension source stated it.
Days to maturity
55–60
Sourcing notes
Not covered by CSU's tables at all. PURDUE's very_tender rule ("at least two weeks after" frost, min air temp 60-65F) used; Table 3 gives 60F min soil temp. DTM: used MOEXT's 55-60 days; NCSU's 18-28-day figure looks anomalously short for okra (likely describes days between successive pod harvests rather than days-to-first-harvest) and was excluded, flagged.
Related crops
Growing zones for this crop
Nurseries near these locations
See everything with an open window this month →
Sources
- University of Missouri Extension, Vegetable Planting Calendar (G6201) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- NC State Extension, Central North Carolina Planting Calendar for Annual Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs (AG-756-01) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- Purdue Extension (Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture), Indiana Vegetable Planting Calendar (HO-186-W) (accessed 2026-08-04)
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, Virginia's Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide (Pub. 426-331) (accessed 2026-08-04)