One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 way of getting a good idea when you can plant okra is to refer to the USDA zone info for New Providence.

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

You really shouldn't plant okra until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant okra in New Providence 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. If you are starting your okra indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in New Providence. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Since the USDA zone info for New Providence may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in New Providence you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your okra in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for New Providence

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°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 0°F.

Plants to Grow in New Providence

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