Growing Peppers in Oklahoma: Fruit Set, Heat and Timing
Oklahoma City averages 70.7 days a year at 90 F or hotter, and that heat load is the single biggest reason pepper flowers drop before they ever become…
Gardening in Oklahoma
Everything we have worked out for Oklahoma: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Oklahoma City, the last spring freeze runs March 28 to April 10 and the first fall freeze runs October 29 to November 8, USDA zones 6a-8a, 5,375 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 13 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Oklahoma: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
Growing Potatoes in Oklahoma: Dates, Varieties and Summer Heat
Plant your Oklahoma potatoes as a spring crop, not a summer one. Get seed potatoes in the ground 14 to 21 days before your area’s last frost, then plan…
Pepper Varieties That Ripen in a Oklahoma Season
Peppers can ripen fully in Oklahoma, but only if the transplant date, the soil temperature, and the state’s heat load line up first.
Watering Through a Dry Spell in Oklahoma
Oklahoma summers hand a garden about 3.59 inches of rain in July, the driest month of the season, while the thermometer tops 90F on 70.7 days a year on…
Watering Pots and Containers in Oklahoma
Oklahoma gardens face a rough combination: a dry midsummer month and more than ten weeks of 90-degree heat each year.
When to Plant Onions in Oklahoma
Most Oklahoma gardeners should plant onions in late winter to early spring, typically from mid-February through March, not in fall.
Forcing Spring Bulbs Indoors in Oklahoma
Forcing spring bulbs indoors works in Oklahoma because it sidesteps the state’s uneven winter chill rather than fighting it.
Growing Spring Bulbs in Containers in Oklahoma
Container-grown spring bulbs survive an Oklahoma winter when the pot holds bulbs rated at least two zones hardier than the ground needs, or when the pot…
Oklahoma Planting Calendar: When to Sow and Plant, Frost Dates Included
Oklahoma City’s frost-free season runs from early April to late October, according to NOAA, and this guide shows how to use those dates for cool-season and warm-season crops.
Canning at Altitude in Oklahoma: What Your Elevation Changes
Oklahoma City sits at 1,201 feet, and water there boils somewhere between 208°F and 212°F depending on the day’s barometric pressure.