Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By using the USDA zone info for Mattoon you should be able to estimate when it's the best time to plant okra.

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

Okra are not cold tolerant which tells us that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Mattoon 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your okra indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Mattoon. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mattoon may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mattoon it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your okra in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mattoon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Mattoon

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