One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You can figure out when it's possible to plant okra in New Bern by reviewing the USDA zone info.

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 tells us 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 New Bern 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 fully mature. Starting your okra indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for New Bern is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in New Bern you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your okra if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for New Bern

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in New Bern

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Bern.