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.

West coast: Kerala, Goa, Konkan, coastal Karnataka, south Gujarat

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 West coast

  • Season

    Three seasons: February-March, June-July and October-November6

  • Sowing to last picking

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

  • Sow

    February to March6

  • First harvest

    45 to 65 days after sowing10

Across India

When to sow it

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

Sow now

The window here is October to November.

  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
West coastKerala, Goa, KonkanSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
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 KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
West coastFebruary to MarchJune to JulyOctober to November
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
South interiorJune to JulyLate January to FebruarySeptember to early October
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 compost6

    12 t per hectare · Apply as a basal dose. · Before 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 before sowing if the soil is not moist enough. In summer, water every 2 to 3 days.6

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 West coast aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering6

Water before sowing if the soil is not moist enough. In summer, water every 2 to 3 days.

Weeding6

Weed regularly. In the rainy season, earth up the rows.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Before sowingFarmyard manure or compost12 t per hectareApply as a basal dose.

Sources6

Varieties and yield

Typical range10

7.5 to 10 tonnes a hectare

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

Varieties grown here6

  • Pusa Sawani

  • Pusa Makhmali

  • IARI Selection 2

  • Kiran

  • Salkeerthi

  • Co-1

    Red fruited.

  • Aruna

    Red fruited.

  • Arka Anamika

    Yellow vein mosaic resistant or tolerant.

  • Arka Abhay

    Yellow vein mosaic resistant or tolerant.

  • Susthira

    Yellow vein mosaic resistant or tolerant.

  • Anjitha

    Yellow vein mosaic resistant or tolerant.

  • Manjima

    Yellow vein mosaic resistant or tolerant.

Good neighbours5

Pests and diseases6

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Shoot and fruit borer

    Signs

    Shoots droop; pods are bored.

    What to do

    • Remove drooping shoots and damaged fruits.

  • Pest

    Root-knot nematode

    Signs

    Galls on the roots; stunted plants.

    What to do

    • A week before planting, put sawdust or paddy husk (500 g per plant) or neem or Eupatorium leaves (250 g per plant) in the basins and water daily; the effect lasts up to 75 days in summer.
    • Treat seed with the bacterium Bacillus macerans.

  • Pest

    Whitefly and leafhopper

    Signs

    Sap suckers that spread yellow vein mosaic.

    What to do

    • Use plant-based insecticides such as neem preparations.

  • Disease

    Yellow vein mosaic

    Signs

    Veins and then leaves turn yellow; carried by whitefly and leafhopper.

    What to do

    • Keep the vectors down.
    • Destroy host weeds such as Croton sparsiflora and Ageratum.

    Prevention

    • Plant resistant varieties: Arka Anamika, Arka Abhay, Susthira.

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. 6Package of Practices Recommendations: Crops 2011, Vegetables (Bhindi)Kerala Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  6. 7Bhendi: sowing (Horticulture, vegetables)Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, TNAU Agritech PortalRead the source
  7. 8Organic farming practices: bhendi, climate and soilTamil Nadu Agricultural University, TNAU Agritech PortalRead the source
  8. 9Organic farming practices: bhendi, cultivationTamil Nadu Agricultural University, TNAU Agritech PortalRead the source

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