One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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.

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant okra by referring to the USDA zone info for Cleveland.

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

Since okra are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Cleveland 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 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 April 15 in Cleveland. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cleveland is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Cleveland it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your okra in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cleveland

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 Cleveland

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