Okra · London, England, United Kingdom
When to plant okra in London
Main outdoor window
5-26 May
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
14 April
In London, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jul - 31 Oct
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in London
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
17 Mar - 7 Apr
Four weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
5-26 May
Three weeks after your last frost.
Plant out
5-26 May
Three weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
1 Jul - 31 Oct
Okra through the year
Against the frost risk in London
Why these dates
Sow or plant out three weeks after the last frost, once soil is at 18C. Soaking the hard seed overnight noticeably improves germination.
Killed at 0C and checked below 15C, at which point the plant stops setting pods and sulks until warmth returns.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Okra are timed from 4 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 3 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for London.
The median frost-free season here is 219 days, against 55 to 70 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in London
Other vegetables to time
Growing okra in London
When should I plant okra in London?
Aim for 5-26 May in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 26 May - 16 Jun - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will okra be ready to harvest in London?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jul - 31 Oct, based on 55 to 70 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will okra tolerate?
Killed at 0C and checked below 15C, at which point the plant stops setting pods and sulks until warmth returns.