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.

The first chance to plant okra in Sarasota can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

Okra are not cold tolerant which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Sarasota 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 okra and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your okra may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your okra indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Sarasota is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sarasota it frosts late in the year after February 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your okra in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sarasota

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 Sarasota

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