Annual Vegetable · 20 varieties

Okra

Name: Okra growing data
Creator: GardenTrack

Abelmoschus esculentus

Malvaceae — the only crop in its plant family here.

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is an annual vegetable. It wants full sun and pH 6–7 soil, with about 1–2 in of water weekly. It matures in about 48–90 days from sowing, or 50–60 days from setting out a transplant. Watch for aphids and damping off. Below: its full sourced profile from 5 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.

Sun Full sun

Water Moderate

Matures 50–60 days — from transplant from transplant

Mature size 3–8 ft

Spacing 12–18 in

Soil pH 6–7

Frost Tender

When to plant okratypical · zone 6b

Your zone

…or your ZIP, for your real frost dates

Germinating

Seedlings

Growing

Flowering

Fruit set

Harvest

Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. This calendar assumes the crop is started indoors. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.

Growing okraevery fact says where it came from

What we will not put a number on

We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.

Site & soil

Sun: Full sun
Soil pH: 6–7
Soil texture: Sandy loam, Loam, Well drained
Frost tolerance: Tender

No published figure for the temperature frost starts to hurt it, the temperature that would kill it and a heat limit. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.

The plant

Mature height: 3–8 ft
Mature spread: 2–5 ft
Growth rate: Moderateest
Spacing in row: 12–18 in
Between rows: 36–48 in
Planting depth: 0.75–1 in
Container size: 5–10 gal — low end is the minimum, high end is betterest
Support: Self-supporting
Grown from: Direct sow, Transplant

Water & feeding

Water needs: Moderate
Water per week: 1–2 in/wkest
Critical water: Flowering, Fruit setest
Feeding: Heavy

Timing & fruiting

Days to maturity: 48–90 days from seed · 50–60 days from transplant
Start indoors before planting out: 4–5 wk
Harvest cues: Pods tender snap stage

There is no line here for how long after the last frost to plant it out, because we have no figure to put there. We went looking and wrote down what we read — it is missing on purpose, not because nobody checked.

Planted again for autumn

Set plants out by: early Sep typical · zone 6b

50 days to maturity from setting a plant out — that is what our sources measure for this crop, so this is a date for planting out and not a sowing date, counted back from the first frost above. Not published for anywhere in particular: it is your own frost date and this crop's own figure, which is why it works wherever you are. A days-to-maturity figure is a catalog number for a good season rather than a promise, and a cold month moves it.

Edible parts per source: fruit, leaf, seed.

What tends to go wrongmost-cited first

PestsAphidsCorn earwormStink bugsLeaffooted bugsRoot knot nematodesWhitefliesSpider mitesJapanese beetleFire ants

DiseasesDamping offRoot rotPowdery mildewSouthern blightFusarium wiltVerticillium wiltPod rot

Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.

Featured varieties20 with their own page

Annie Oakley II Spineless · 50–52d Blondy Dwarf · 50d Cajun Delight Spineless · 55d Candle Fire Red · 60d Carmine Splendor Red · 51d Clemson Spineless Spineless · 60d Cow Horn Heirloom · 53d Emerald Round Pod · 55d French Quarter Pink Red · 50–55d French Quarter Red Red · 50d Gold Coast Dwarf · 55d Hill Country Red Red · 60–70d Jambalaya Spineless · 50d Jing Orange Heirloom · 60d Louisiana Green Velvet Spineless · 55–65d Perkins Long Pod Heirloom · 55d Rainbow Fiesta Heirloom · 55d Red Burgundy Red · 55d Silver Queen Heirloom · 65d Star of David Heirloom · 60d

Open one and add it to your garden — it lights up here. The rest of the 20 are in the full list below.

All 20 varietiesthe ones with their own page are linked

Variety	Type	Habit	Days	Color
Annie Oakley II F1	Spineless		50–52	Green
Blondy Heirloom	Dwarf	Dwarf	50	Green
Cajun Delight F1	Spineless		55	Green
Candle Fire Heirloom	Red		60	Red
Carmine Splendor F1	Red		51	Red
Clemson Spineless Heirloom	Spineless		60	Green
Cow Horn Heirloom	Heirloom	Tall	53	Green
Emerald Heirloom	Round Pod		55	Green
French Quarter Pink F1	Red	Dwarf	50–55	Pink
French Quarter Red F1	Red	Dwarf	50	Red
Gold Coast	Dwarf	Dwarf	55	Green
Hill Country Red Heirloom	Red	Tall	60–70	Green, Red
Jambalaya F1	Spineless		50	Green
Jing Orange Heirloom	Heirloom		60	Orange
Louisiana Green Velvet Heirloom	Spineless	Tall	55–65	Green
Perkins Long Pod Heirloom	Heirloom		55	Green
Rainbow Fiesta Heirloom	Heirloom		55	Red, Orange, White, Green
Red Burgundy Heirloom	Red		55	Red
Silver Queen Heirloom	Heirloom		65	White
Star of David Heirloom	Heirloom	Tall	60	Green

Sources5 cited · 5 organizations

Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC
NC State Extension
University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service
University of Maryland Extension
Utah State University Extension

We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 16 of the 20 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.

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