Okra is a delicious summer veggie that’s essential for Southern classics like gumbo, fried okra, and pickled okra. Its pretty flowers and unique seed pods add visual interest to the garden too But okra can be tricky to grow It loves heat and won’t tolerate cold soils or frost. So when is it too late to plant okra in your region?
As an avid okra gardener, I’ve discovered that okra timing is everything. Plant too early when soil temps are low and seeds will rot. Plant too late and your okra harvest will be meager before frost hits. Follow optimal planting times and you’ll be rewarded with abundant okra all summer long!
In this article, you’ll learn:
- Optimal soil temperature for planting okra
- Recommended planting dates for different regions
- Signs it’s too late to plant okra this season
- How to get a late okra crop using transplants
Let’s dive in so you can enjoy this Southern staple fresh from your garden!
Okra Needs Warm Soil
Okra originates from Africa so it thrives in hot, humid climates. It grows best when daytime highs reach 85-90°F and nighttime lows stay above 60°F.
But the key factor determining okra’s planting time is soil temperature. Okra seeds need soil temps of at least 65-70°F to germinate well. Any cooler and seeds will rot, sprout erratically or fail to come up at all.
So the basic rule is to plant okra after a string of days bringing soil temps to 65°F + at a 2 inch depth Keep reading for planting dates tailored to your region
Recommended Okra Planting Dates
Use these planting windows as a guide in your area:
Deep South
- Louisiana: March 15-July 1
- Alabama: April 1-July 15
- Mississippi: April 1-July 4
- Georgia: April 1-July 15
- South Carolina: April 10-July 4
- North Florida: March 20-July 4
Mid South
- Arkansas: April 15-June 15
- Tennessee: April 15-July 1
- North Carolina: April 20-July 1
- Virginia: May 1-July 4
South Central
- Texas: April 1-August 1
- Oklahoma: May 1-July 1
Desert Southwest
- New Mexico: May 1-June 15
- Arizona: March 15-May 1
These dates indicate when soil temperatures should be warm enough for okra. Track soil temps in your garden with a probe thermometer to confirm. Some microclimates heat up faster than others.
I always wait 2 weeks past the earliest planting date listed to sow okra. This cushions against cool spells that could stall seeds. A little patience pays off!
Signs It’s Too Late for Okra
Wondering if you’ve missed the boat for planting okra this summer? Here are signs it’s too late:
- Daytime highs consistently below 80°F
- Nighttime temps falling below 55°F
- First fall frost date for your area is 6-8 weeks away
- Soil temperatures stuck under 65°F
When the weather is trending cooler as summer ends, okra will struggle. Existing plants start producing smaller pods and may become more prone to pests and disease.
At this point, it’s best to pull up fading okra plants to improve conditions for other heat-loving veggies like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Focus your efforts on maximizing harvests from them before frost.
But if the summer garden still looks bare, read on for a late planting option…
Use Transplants for Late Okra
While direct seeding okra is too risky late in the season, you can still plant heat-hardy transplants through early August.
Look for 6 inch tall, stocky okra seedlings at your local garden center or nursery. Choose fast-maturing varieties that take 50-60 days from transplanting to harvest. ‘Annie Oakley II’, ‘Cajun Delight’ and ‘Emerald’ are good choices.
Space transplants 18-24 inches apart in fertile, well-drained soil. Water deeply right after planting. Feed every 2-3 weeks with a balanced liquid fertilizer to fuel pod production.
With this approach, you can get a small late okra harvest before frost stops production. Just be diligent about picking pods every other day once they size up.
Monitor weather forecasts closely too. Be ready to deploy row covers or fabric sheets to protect plants if an early cold snap threatens.
Soil, Planting, and Care
Pick the most sunny spot in your yard to grow okra, and don’t put your plants outside until it’s warm. Plants like it when nights are at least in the 60s and days 85 or warmer. In the North, gardeners might wait until late June to plant, since pods appear within 2 months.
Okra grows best in soil with a near-neutral pH between 6.5 and 7.0, although it will do fine in a pH as high as 7.6. Plants benefit from a generous amount of compost or other rich organic matter, which should be thoroughly mixed into the soil before planting. Or, you can improve the nutrition and texture of your native soil by mixing in aged compost-enriched Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics®All Purpose In-Ground Soil with the top few inches. For an even better chance at a big harvest, youll also want to make sure your okra plants get all the nutrients they need throughout the season by feeding them with a continuous-release fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules, following label directions.
Okra seedlings have fragile taproots that you need to be careful not to damage. Thoroughly water your seedlings an hour before you plant them. Gently remove them from the pot, separate the seedlings, and set them about 10 inches apart. Plant slightly deeper (about ½ inch) than they grew in their pots. If it’s not going to rain, water the little plants. But don’t mulch for a few days so the soil has time to soak up the sun’s heat. People like okra because it can survive drought better than other vegetables. However, just like other vegetables, it needs at least an inch of water a week to grow well and produce a lot. Just keep in mind that okra will be the last plant to suffer if you can’t seem to water it enough during a long dry spell.
The early growth of okra is often slow, but the plants grow much faster once summer starts sizzling. As okra plants grow, they get taller and their leaves get bigger. They also start to make yellow flowers, which are followed by tender pods. Plants are erect with a main trunk, making them look a little tree-like in the garden.
Cool weather is okras number-one enemy, and stressed plants may fall victim to verticillium and fusarium wilts, which are soil-borne diseases that cause them to wilt and die. Another serious pest is root knot nematode. Ants often climb up plants to steal sips of nectar but seldom cause serious damage. Fire ants are the exception, as they can cause damage to developing flowers that forces them to abort. Other pests that you may run into include Japanese beetles, stink bugs, aphids, corn earworms, and flea beetles. Contact your regional Extension agency for details on how to control these diseases and pests.
Warm weather helps pods grow quickly, so check plants every day once they start producing. A pod can grow from nothing to full size in 2 or 3 days. Pods show up first at the plant’s base and work their way up. By the end of the season, you could be on your toes ready to harvest.
When pods are 2 to 4 inches long, they’re at their best. If you let them stay on the plant longer, they get tough and stringy. Always remove any that are too big to eat because they keep the plant from producing.
Use pruning shears to cut the pods with a short stub of stem attached. Some people get itchy when they touch the stiff hairs on okra leaves, so you might want to wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt when you pick your okra. If you miss a few pods and they grow into huge ones, cut them off so they don’t wear out the plant.
In warm climates where summer lasts a long time, standard-sized plants can get 6 to 8 feet tall. In this case, many people prune in late summer by cutting back about one-third of the plants tops. Buds along the main stem then grow and produce a late crop.
Okra is a “cut-and-come-again” vegetable. Keep cutting the pods every day or two, and they will keep on coming.
Do all okra varieties have spines?
Some varieties are listed as “spineless. ” However, the term is a description of the okra pod itself, and not the plant. All plants have at least tiny, fuzzy spines that cause burning and itching when you rub against them. Wear long sleeves and gloves to harvest okra if you are bothered by the prickly plant.