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.

The USDA zone info for Reading should be read to estimate when it's possible to plant okra.

Planting Calendar for Okra

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

Okra are not cold tolerant which means that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant okra in Reading 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 fully mature. Starting your okra indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Reading the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Reading is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Reading you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your okra in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Reading

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 Reading

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