One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

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

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

You can not plant okra until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Beatrice 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your okra indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Beatrice the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Beatrice and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Beatrice you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your okra if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Beatrice

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Beatrice

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