The Organic
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Vegetables · Fruiting

Growing okra

Abelmoschus esculentus · also called BhindiA hot weather vegetable grown for its tender green pods. It is sown straight in the field in spring-summer and in the rains, and needs full sun and no frost.

Cold desert: Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
Pale green okra pods growing upright among the leaves of okra plants against a blue sky
Photo: Wilfredor · CC0

At a glance

Okra in the Cold desert

  • Season

    Summer, under cover only

    No published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 3 to 4 months inside a polyhouse.

    No published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • First harvest

    50 to 60 days after sowing

    No published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Under cover only

Under cover, from May, inside a polyhouse.

Sowing now in:West coast
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
Cold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti · Under cover onlyTemperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, Dehradun
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Cold desertUnder cover onlyUnder cover: May, inside a polyhouseUnder cover: July to early September
Temperate HimalayaMarch to JuneApril to MayApril to MayMayJuly to September
Sub-tropical foothillsFebruary to MarchJune to JulyMarch to MayApril to JuneAugust to October
North-west plainsFebruary to MarchJune to JulyMid-JuneApril to JuneAugust to October
Gangetic plainsFebruary to MarchJanuary to FebruaryJune to JulyJuly to September
North-east hills and valleysFebruary to early AprilApril to MayLate April to August
Arid westJune to JulyFebruary to MarchAugust to October
Central plateauJune to JulyFebruary to MarchAugust to October
Deccan plateauJune to JulyJanuary to MarchAugust to October
South interiorJune to JulyLate January to FebruarySeptember to early October
West coastFebruary to MarchJune to JulyOctober to November
East coastJune to JulyLate January to FebruarySeptember

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Well rotted farmyard manure or compostNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    about 2 to 3 kg per m² · Mix into the beds before sowing. · Bed preparation

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 5 to 10

    Seeds come up1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 50 to 60

    First pickingNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    Every 2 or 3 days

  5. Day 100 to 120

    Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Water every 3 to 4 days, more at flowering and fruit set.No published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1

    6 to 6.8

    Grows on sandy to clay loam with plenty of organic matter and good drainage. Loose, friable, well manured loam suits it most. Waterlogging harms the crop.

  • Sunlight1

    Full sun. Plenty of sunshine matters for growth and yield.

  • Temperature1,8

    Grows best at 25 to 30 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the Cold desert aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

WateringNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Water lightly every 3 to 4 days; soil under cover dries fast in the dry air. Keep it moist at flowering and fruit set.

WeedingNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Hand weed the beds two or three times in the first six weeks, then mulch.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Bed preparationWell rotted farmyard manure or compostabout 2 to 3 kg per m²Mix into the beds before sowing.

SourcesNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Varieties and yield

Typical rangeNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

1 to 2 kg a square metre

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Good neighbours5

Pests and diseasesNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Aphid

    Signs

    Colonies of small soft insects on young shoots and under leaves.

    What to do

    • Wash colonies off with a jet of water.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.

    Prevention

    • Hang yellow sticky traps inside the house.

  • Pest

    Red spider mite

    Signs

    Pale speckled leaves with webbing; worse in hot, dry polyhouses.

    What to do

    • Remove the worst leaves.
    • Raise humidity by damping the paths.

  • Disease

    Powdery mildew

    Signs

    White powdery growth on the leaves.

    What to do

    • Remove badly hit leaves.

    Prevention

    • Ventilate the house and keep plants well spaced.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Keep at least 200 m between two varieties, because okra often crosses. Walk the seed crop before flowering, at flowering and fruiting, and before harvest, and pull out off-types and diseased plants. In the Punjab plains the seed crop is sown flat in mid-June at 60 x 25 cm.

When the seed is ready

The seed crop matures in 90 to 100 days. Pods ripen unevenly, so pick them dry and brown in 3 or 4 rounds.

Cleaning the seed

Dry the picked pods in the sun, thresh them and clean the seed.

Dry the seed well in the sun before storing. Keep it in airtight containers in a cool, dry place; it keeps well for a year or two.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Plants stop bearing when nights in the polyhouse fall below about 15 °C in September. Clear them and compost the healthy residues.

Pull out and destroy plants and residues carrying mites or borers straight after the last picking. Healthy residues can go to the compost heap.

Rotation

Do not follow okra with another crop of the mallow family (cotton, hollyhock). Rotate with cereals, which also lowers root-knot nematodes. In Punjab, potato, okra and early cauliflower follow one another in a year; in nematode fields, cauliflower, onion and then okra.

Growing under coverNo published guide covers this for the Cold desert, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Grow in a polyhouse or a trench greenhouse from May to September. Okra needs warm nights and does not set fruit in Ladakh's cold nights outdoors.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 1Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2020 (Bhindi/Okra)Directorate of Extension, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of JammuRead the source
  2. 10Organic farming practices: bhendi, harvesting and post-harvestTamil Nadu Agricultural University, TNAU Agritech PortalRead the source
  3. 4Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Okra)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  4. 5AESA based IPM package: OkraNational Institute of Plant Health Management and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
  5. 7Bhendi: sowing (Horticulture, vegetables)Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, TNAU Agritech PortalRead the source
  6. 8Organic farming practices: bhendi, climate and soilTamil Nadu Agricultural University, TNAU Agritech PortalRead the source
  7. 9Organic farming practices: bhendi, cultivationTamil Nadu Agricultural University, TNAU Agritech PortalRead the source

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