One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Okeechobee it's a good idea to determine when to plant stevia.

Planting Calendar for Stevia

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

Since stevia are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

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

The last month that you can plant stevia and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your stevia may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your stevia indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on February 15 in Okeechobee. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Okeechobee may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Okeechobee it frosts late in the year after February 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your stevia in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Okeechobee

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Okeechobee

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