One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Spirit Lake you should be able to determine when it's possible to plant okra.

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

Okra do not do well in cold weather which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Spirit Lake 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. Any later than that and your okra may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your okra indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Spirit Lake. You should expect an average low temperature of -20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Spirit Lake is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Spirit Lake last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your okra in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Spirit Lake

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Spirit Lake

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Spirit Lake.