Planting guide

When to plant okra

Handsome hibiscus-like plant with tender pods; it loves real heat. In Melbourne it goes in Nov–Dec.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 8–10 wks
Spacing: 40 cm
Depth: 2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means okra can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Townsville	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mackay	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
London	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant okra

Soak seed overnight; sow 2 cm deep in hot soil.
Thin to 40 cm apart.
Water in dry spells; feed monthly.
Pick pods at 8 cm long, every day or two.

Okra varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Clemson Spineless Classicheirloom · heat-tolerant · heavy-cropper · 8–10 wksSpineless pods that are easy to handle
Perkins Long Pod Classicheirloom · heat-tolerant · 8–10 wksLong dark-green pods; heavy cropper
Red Burgundy Adventurouscolourful · heat-tolerant · 8–10 wksRed pods and stems; pretty in a veg bed
Emerald Classicheat-tolerant · heavy-cropper · 8–10 wksSmooth, glossy green pods
Jing Orange Adventurouscolourful · heat-tolerant · 9–11 wksOrange pods, striking and tasty

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Pepper, Cucumber, Eggplant

Okra by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Tomato · Capsicum · Chilli · Eggplant · Cucumber · Zucchini

Not sure okra is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now