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.

One way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant okra is to check out the USDA zone info for Oak Ridge.

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant okra until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Oak Ridge 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. If you are starting your okra indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Oak Ridge. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Oak Ridge is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Oak Ridge there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your okra if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Oak Ridge

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Oak Ridge

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Oak Ridge.