One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Columbus should be reffered to in order to figure out when to plant okra.

Planting Calendar for Okra

Frost tolerance for okra:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You really shouldn't plant okra until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Columbus 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. If you wait any later than that and your okra may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your okra indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Columbus. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Columbus is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbus you get surprised by a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your okra if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

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 Columbus

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