How far apart to plant okra
Virginia Cooperative Extension spaces okra 12 to 18 inches apart in the row, with rows 3 to 4 feet apart. The UC Master Gardeners' square foot guide gives each okra plant one square foot. Clemson Extension sows the seed 3/4 inch deep, several seeds to a hole, and thins to one plant per hole.
Clemson's own guide is a little tighter in the row, 9 to 12 inches, with rows 3 to 6 feet apart. None of the sources in the crop data give a separate raised bed spacing for okra, so in a bed the calculator uses the in-row figure both ways, starting at 15 inches, the middle of the range.
How many okra plants fit a raised bed
| Bed | 15 in each way (square) | Square foot method (1 per sq ft) |
|---|---|---|
| 4 × 4 ft | 9 | 16 |
| 4 × 8 ft | 18 | 32 |
| 3 × 6 ft | 8 | 18 |
| 4 × 12 ft | 27 | 48 |
At 15 inches a 4 ft wide bed takes three rows, with half a spacing kept clear at each edge. The square foot column fills every square to the edge, so treat it as a maximum rather than a target.
In the Rows pattern, at 15 inches in the row and 42 inches between rows, a 4 × 8 ft bed takes 6 plants, while a 3 ft wide bed is narrower than one row spacing and counts 0. A single garden row at 15 inches holds 8 plants in 10 feet and 20 plants in 25 feet.
Wait for warm soil
Okra is a warm-season crop that cannot take frost. Clemson Extension waits until the soil is at least 65°F at 4 inches deep before sowing and gives 70 to 95°F as the best range for germination. The crop data has no frost-date timing for okra, so okra is not in the seed starting planner; go by soil temperature rather than the calendar.
How much okra to plant
Texas A&M AgriLife's planning guide (E-289) allows 6 feet of row per person for fresh eating and 10 feet if you also freeze or pickle. At 15 inches apart, 6 feet is about 5 plants per person. Virginia Tech expects 5 to 10 lb of pods per 10 feet of row.
Pods are ready about 60 to 70 days after sowing, according to Clemson, and are picked while 2 to 3 inches long. Clemson advises picking at least every two days, because bigger pods turn tough and fibrous.
Plan a mixed bed in the raised bed planner, compare okra with other crops on the plant spacing calculator, or use the square foot gardening calculator for a grid of squares.