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.

South interior: Bengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil Nadu

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 South interior

  • Season

    Grown all year, as there is no frost or severe winter8

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 3 to 4 months from sowing to the last picking.8

  • Sow

    June to July

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

  • First harvest

    45 to 65 days after sowing10

Across India

When to sow it

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

Too late this season

The window here was September to early October. The next one opens in January.

Sowing now in:West coast
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
South interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal AndhraWest coastKerala, Goa, Konkan
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti · Under cover onlySub-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 KarnatakaWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
South interiorJune to JulyLate January to FebruarySeptember to early October
Temperate HimalayaMarch to JuneApril to MayApril to MayMayJuly to September
Cold desertUnder cover onlyUnder cover: May, inside a polyhouseUnder cover: July to early 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
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

    Farmyard manure or compost

    20 to 25 t per hectare · Mix in at the last ploughing. · Field preparation

    Neem cake

    about 250 kg per hectare · Apply along the ridges. · Sowing

    VermicompostNo published guide covers this for the South interior, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    1 to 2 t per hectare · Place along the rows at earthing up. · About 30 days after sowing

  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 45 to 65

    First picking10

    Every other day to every 3 or 4 days

  5. Day 90 to 120

    Last picking8

Water every 4 to 8 days, more at flowering and fruit set.No published guide covers this for the South interior, 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 South interior aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

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

Water every 4 to 5 days in the hot months and every 7 to 8 days in cooler months. Never let the soil dry out at flowering and fruit set, but avoid waterlogging.

Weeding9

Weed first 20 days after sowing, then every 25 days, 3 or 4 times in all until the canopy covers the soil. Earth up at 30 days.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Field preparationFarmyard manure or compost20 to 25 t per hectareMix in at the last ploughing.
SowingNeem cakeabout 250 kg per hectareApply along the ridges.
About 30 days after sowingVermicompost1 to 2 t per hectarePlace along the rows at earthing up.

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

Varieties and yield

Typical range10

7.5 to 10 tonnes a hectare

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

Varieties grown here8

  • Arka Anamika

  • Parbhani Kranti

  • Varsha Uphar

  • Pusa A-4

  • Bangalore local

    Local type popular with Tamil Nadu organic growers.

  • Kulemagali vendai

    Local type popular with Tamil Nadu organic growers.

  • Nattu vendai

    Local type popular with Tamil Nadu organic growers.

Good neighbours5

Pests and diseases5

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Shoot and fruit borer (Earias species)

    Signs

    Young shoots droop and dry; pods have bore holes and twist.

    What to do

    • Clip off bored shoots below the entry hole, and pick and destroy bored pods.
    • Set pheromone traps to watch the moths.
    • Release the egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis and conserve lacewings, ladybirds, spiders and birds.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5% or a neem oil product, or Bt or Beauveria bassiana.

    Prevention

    • Do not grow okra after cotton or another mallow family crop.

  • Pest

    Leafhopper (jassid)

    Signs

    Leaf edges yellow and curl upwards, then turn bronze; tiny green nymphs under the leaves.

    What to do

    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5% or a neem oil product.
    • Conserve predators such as lacewings.

    Prevention

    • Remove other host plants nearby.
    • Grow tolerant varieties; an intercrop of baby corn lowers numbers.

  • Pest

    Whitefly (carrier of yellow vein mosaic)

    Signs

    Small white insects under the leaves suck sap; they spread yellow vein mosaic.

    What to do

    • Pull out virus-hit plants and keep the field clean.
    • Hang yellow sticky traps to watch numbers.
    • Conserve ladybirds, lacewings and spiders.

    Prevention

    • Grow four rows of maize, sorghum or pearl millet round the field as a barrier.
    • Grow tolerant varieties.

  • Pest

    Red spider mite

    Signs

    Pale speckled leaves with fine webbing underneath; leaves dry and drop.

    What to do

    • Uproot and destroy the first infested plants.
    • Conserve predatory mites, ladybirds and lacewings.

    Prevention

    • Avoid water and nutrient stress; mulch and add organic matter.
    • Keep the field free of weeds.

  • Pest

    Root-knot nematode

    Signs

    Knots and galls on the roots; plants stay stunted and wilt in the heat.

    What to do

    • Intercrop marigold with okra.

    Prevention

    • Rotate with cereals.
    • Plough deep in summer, or solarise the soil under clear polythene for three weeks before sowing.

  • Disease

    Yellow vein mosaic

    Signs

    Leaf veins turn yellow, then whole leaves; plants stay stunted and bear few pale, small pods. Spread by whitefly.

    What to do

    • Pull out infected plants early.
    • Keep whitefly down with border crops and sticky traps.

    Prevention

    • Grow tolerant or resistant varieties.

  • Disease

    Powdery mildew

    Signs

    White powdery growth on the leaves, which then drop.

    What to do

    • Spray a neem oil product.

    Prevention

    • Keep the right plant spacing so air moves.
    • Watch nearby fields for the disease.

  • Disease

    Cercospora leaf spot

    Signs

    Brown to sooty spots on both sides of the leaves; badly hit leaves drop.

    What to do

    • Pick off and destroy infected leaves.

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 picking5

After the last picking, pull out and destroy plants with mites or borers, compost the rest, and follow with a cereal rather than another mallow family crop.

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.

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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