One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant okra is to look at the USDA zone info for Houma.

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

Okra do not do well in cold weather which means that you have 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 Houma 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. If you wait any later than that and your okra may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your okra indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Houma. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Houma is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Houma it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your okra in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Houma

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°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 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Houma

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