One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to determine when to plant okra by looking at the USDA zone info for Poughkeepsie.

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

Since okra are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Poughkeepsie 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 Poughkeepsie the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Poughkeepsie and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Poughkeepsie there is a last frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your okra in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Poughkeepsie

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

Plants to Grow in Poughkeepsie

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