Okra

[castanea]

Sept 22, 2015 1:09:42 GMT -5 12540dumont said:

Well, it's been 105 for 2 days in a row, so even the okra didn't like it. The pods on got huge, but the new flowers just croaked.

Bloom and shrivel, it's the new normal. Careful Flower, that rain looks like it's headed toward you.

Okra has a reputation for liking heat but it sure doesn't seem to like 100+ heat combined with low humidity.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

I have culled a lot of okra as the weather started cooling off. The leaves were dying and turning brown even though not being frozen. I'm still harvesting okra from other plants that are doing fine... We ate some for super last night.

They sure have to be picked regularly to get tender pods!

I noticed that most of the plants that are remaining, and that have thrived in my garden have frilly leaves like this:

Frilly-Leaved Okra.


Plants with fat, non-frilly leaves have tended to do poorly for me.

Fat-leaved okra.


And the growing season wouldn't seem complete unless I posted a photo of the okra being taller than the farmer.

[zeedman]

Joseph, have you been able to get dry seed this year? It turned out to be a great year here for okra, no cold snaps in August or September to cause the plants to die back. Most of my plants are still producing, which is unheard of here for this late in the season. Letting a single pod on each plant go for seed did not appear to slow production.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

zeedman: I am allowing about 60 okra pods to mature on the plants... My basic strategy was to allow one or two of the first-formed pods on each plant to continue growing, and then to pick all later pods for food. Yesterday when I was picking okra I noticed that some of the pods are currently dry and woody. I don't know if they shatter or not, but I intend to check on them and pick what's mature before our next rain storm. Some of the plants are just now setting fruit, so we'll see if they manage to mature seed.

By the way... I like okra for it's agronomic properties, because like corn, it is a crop that I can pick while standing up.

[jondear]

The frilly leaf looks a little like mizuna

[steev]

Dry pods shatter for sure; I clip mine as soon as they start to split, as the seed is very loose in the pod.

[reed]

I have a lot of okra pods that are dry or at least appear so, they even rattle. If I lay them on the table and just mash down they crack open and release the seeds easily but they haven't given any indication of doing it on their own. I had never grown it before, easy, easy crop here and pretty flowers. 

[zeedman]

Like steev, I clip off the pods as soon as they begin to split, then bring them indoors to finish drying. Much of the seed within is already dry and loose at that point & will rattle if shaken, even if some of the pod exterior is still green. The dry pods show no sign of shattering if left on the plant, but if it rains, water enters through the slots & causes the exposed seed to mold... so it is better to harvest the pods frequently. The weather here was unseasonably warm here until yesterday, and the pods were drying down quickly; I was cutting off dry pods at least every other day.

[castanea]

Sept 29, 2015 7:23:29 GMT -5 reed said:

I have a lot of okra pods that are dry or at least appear so, they even rattle. If I lay them on the table and just mash down they crack open and release the seeds easily but they haven't given any indication of doing it on their own. I had never grown it before, easy, easy crop here and pretty flowers. 

It depends on the variety. Some split quickly on their own while others tend not to split on their own for a long time.

[steev]

I think it also depends on the ambient humidity, of which my farm is mostly deficient. Having yet to grow any okra taller than 2', I'm afraid I've a ways to go before I'm shorter than okra, even though I'm clearly getting shorter than in my prime; guess I could lay down.

[imgrimmer]

It didn´t work for me.

[mskrieger]

Dec 23, 2019 17:24:48 GMT -5 William said:

Never grown Okra. Have a packet of Mike's grex. Anyone preserve Josephs strain?

Hey William,
In my experience, okra isn't hard to grow unless you really, truly lack heat. I suspect in your garden it will do fine, from what you say about your weather. I have dry gardened it in a dry year and it just keeps on truckin', much like cowpeas. If you want to buy a big diversity of seeds and start your own grex, check out Southern Exposure Seed Exchange www.southernexposure.com/categories/okra/ they've got a huge assortment of okra varieties.