One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when it's the best time to plant okra is to check out the USDA zone info for Dothan.

Planting Calendar for Okra

Frost tolerance for okra:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Since okra are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Dothan is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant okra and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your okra may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your okra indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Dothan. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dothan may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Dothan you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your okra in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dothan

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Dothan

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Dothan.