Okra 2024

[JRinPA]

pepperhead didn't start it so I will.

I hope everyone else is doing a better job than I am with the okra.

I am already frustrated this year. I found 3 pods in my suitcase of seeds, and upon cracking the pods open very few of the seeds looked "correct", olive colored and uniform. I started 150 seeds from the 3 pods, NOTHING sprouted in the hoophouse I had up.

I found a pack of seeds saved in 2016, so I did about 60 seed of that - got 4 sprouts in the hoophouse. I moved them bigger blocks and 1 died but have a whopping 3 okra plants that are going.

Found another pack of saved seed from 2018, they looked okay, so I tried to pre sprout these. Must have forget about them. Probably 3 days on 85 degrees and really wet, and they were all puffed up, with some tiny white sprouts. I tried planting them into dirt, nothing came of it.

Then my brother said he found some pods, he showed me one, I opened it and the seed looked okay. Moved on to some other project. Then we had a storm. I can't figure for sure where that seed went to, but I imagine it is scattered across the back yard. If I see one growing I'll be sure to mow around it.

So now it is May 29th, and I have 3 okra plants... I went and bought a new pack of clemson spineless, boiled some water, let it drop to 130F then added the seed. Waited an hour or two, A lot of the seeds shed part of their coats, like it flaked off. Not encouraging. I planted a "good one" in each cell then distributed the rest as doubles. There were about 90 seeds total. I replanted into the last set of 50 failed blocks. Set the heat mat for 90f and put the dome on. Put a note by the kitchen door "CHECK OKRA".

I think this should work, should have sprouts in two days, but this is the 3rd time since May 1 that I thought that. I think last time with the 2018 seed it would have worked fine if I had checked them after 24 hours instead of forgetting them for 3 days.

At minimum I will take the 3 starts I have and put them in big black nursery pots as soon as they start growing well. Cut the bottom out and bury them a bit, and let them bush. But I much prefer a nice double row of single stemmed okra because it takes too much of the summer to let them branch out.

[karstopography]

I’ve got a few plants that are a foot, foot and half tall or a bit more. Those have been nibbled on by bunnies and caterpillars and blown around and out of vertical quite a bit, but are showing signs of overcoming all those difficulties. I’ve also got many more seedlings. I’ve planted all that I plan on growing this year, most recently about a week or so ago, and it’s all up and growing. Basically, three waves of direct seeding starting sometime in mid April and each separated by 2-3 weeks.

I don’t know how many plants I’ll end up with. Depends on the spacing I ultimately decide on. Maybe a couple dozen plants total give or take. In the past, six or eight productive plants grown in plenty of light supply about what our typical demand has been so I have some anticipated surplus built in this season. Not all the okra I planted this year are in the best spots, but I’ve found okra will still produce at a reduced rate in filtered light and part shade. At any rate, I’m hoping for a steady supply starting maybe late in June or early July through October. Okra is a summer staple and a vegetable we really like to have available. Next year, I vow to get going on the okra two or three weeks earlier in the season. Planting calendars have okra going in April 1st here and I’m typically a little late to the party with the okra.

[GoDawgs]

I had a rough start to okra. The original planting was three hills each of Cajun Jewel ('20) and three Choppee ('20). Six plants is a gracious plenty for our use. I tested the seed for both this past October. The CJ had been collected in '22 and germination was 80% this past October. The Choppee seed was collected in '20 and tested the same time as the CJ with a note that it took a long time to germinate but no percentage noted. Two hills of CJ came up, and only one of eight Choppee seeds came up.

The one missing Cajun Jewel was resown and I subbed '23 Jing Orange in for the two failed Choppee plantings. Those all came right up so I now have six okra plants up about 2"; 3 Cajun Jewel, 1 Choppee and 2 Jings. A subsequent test of the Choppee seed showed zero germination so out it went.

This year I'm going to bag blossoms and collect all three. It's possible I collected seed pods too early so pods will now sit on the plants until they show signs of splitting open instead of being pulled when "mostly dry" and letting them go to the splitting stage in the house.

[karstopography]

I don’t know exactly what I have out there. Some Sea Island red, Sherwood Red, Shows, Beck’s Big Buck, Star of David, Okinawan Pink, Jing Orange, Gold Coast are all possibilities.

[JRinPA]

I got the nursery pots. Roots are starting out the bottom of the 4" soil blocks. I'm going to put them in a while, then next week I'll cut bottoms and dig them in a bit.

Soil temp was 72 in the heat a few days back. Certainly not okra sprouting temp yet. That's why I went with the hot water prep, seemed to work good for peppers seeds this year. I think '20 was my last good okra year. I have never fertilized for it, maybe this year I should. I had read that okra doesn't need it?

It has been a few since I gave okra an entire row's width, I should do so again. Been trying too many intercrops. I know I can grow good strong plants in a double row with drip tape and tunneled with agribon or even warmer, vented plastic for a few weeks. Just never know when we get a mid May frost. I really should just do that every year and gamble, and if it freezes, just replant. This year in that 13x7 plastic, the seed trays would get to 100 degree in the day and then 40f at night. Starts of corn, okra, carrots, did not like that...

[karstopography]

Pennsylvania tends to have good rich loamy soil doesn’t it, I don’t know if okra would need much more than that. Here, I might from time to time side dress with cottonseed meal or something if the okra look like they need a boost.

The best thing for okra is hot weather.

[Wildcat82]

I've already planted 3 times this year. I think most of what I have growing is Burmese though some Clemson Spineless may be in there.

Supposedly Burmese only 3-4 foot tall. Curious to see what it does.

[JRinPA]

Hot and wet are the best years for me, the best spot I have is the lowest spot. It gets a standing water puddle after a heavy rain. I guess I could use that spot, the spinach and lettuce there are about done. Could use that spot for the three I have so far.

[pepperhead212]

I have 13 Little Lucy and 5 Emerald okra plants growing, in Earthboxes. I've grown a number of others, but they all seem to get fibrous if I let them get over 4". These can grow over 6" long, though I usually pick them a little earlier. And these two varieties tend to get extra stalks, for more flowering on.

[JRinPA]

There were...a few years I'd get 6"+ that were still tender. They have to be growing really fast. It seems to me it was more the amount of time the pod since the pod was started, rather than the size. The age of the pod. But size is much easier to measure.

[Vanman]

For the first time ever I have not had to replant any okra.

[pepperhead212]

I didn't actually replant any this year, but replaced one of the 6 Emerald seedlings with one of the extra Little Lucy seedlings - the reason why I have the odd numbers of each! Almost all of the little lucy seeds sprouted, as usual, since I save them, since there are always several that set fruit before any others flower, so I save those, since they won't be crossing.

[worth1]

I don’t know exactly what I have out there. Some Sea Island red, Sherwood Red, Shows, Beck’s Big Buck, Star of David, Okinawan Pink, Jing Orange, Gold Coast are all possibilities.

I can't remember from last year.
Did you grow Becks big buck last year?

[GoDawgs]

Hot and wet are the best years for me, the best spot I have is the lowest spot. It gets a standing water puddle after a heavy rain. I guess I could use that spot, the spinach and lettuce there are about done. Could use that spot for the three I have so far.

An old timer (and deceased for a long time now) once told me that okra loves all the water and all the hot sun it can get. Then he told me how his father would occasionally "whip" his okra if it wasn't producing well. He'd actually take a switch and beat the plants a little with it and sure enough, they'd start producing better. My guess is that maybe the plants thought the end was near and decided to make seed before it was too late! I've never ever heard anything else from anyone about whipping okra.

[karstopography]

I don’t know exactly what I have out there. Some Sea Island red, Sherwood Red, Shows, Beck’s Big Buck, Star of David, Okinawan Pink, Jing Orange, Gold Coast are all possibilities.

I can't remember from last year.
Did you grow Becks big buck last year?

No, I ordered the seed from southern seed saver exchange over this past winter.

[worth1]

I don’t know exactly what I have out there. Some Sea Island red, Sherwood Red, Shows, Beck’s Big Buck, Star of David, Okinawan Pink, Jing Orange, Gold Coast are all possibilities.

I can't remember from last year.
Did you grow Becks big buck last year?

No, I ordered the seed from southern seed saver exchange over this past winter.

Years ago I read the so called history of this variety.
It came from Central Texas I believe..

[JRinPA]

Hot and wet are the best years for me, the best spot I have is the lowest spot. It gets a standing water puddle after a heavy rain. I guess I could use that spot, the spinach and lettuce there are about done. Could use that spot for the three I have so far.

An old timer (and deceased for a long time now) once told me that okra loves all the water and all the hot sun it can get. Then he told me how his father would occasionally "whip" his okra if it wasn't producing well. He'd actually take a switch and beat the plants a little with it and sure enough, they'd start producing better. My guess is that maybe the plants thought the end was near and decided to make seed before it was too late! I've never ever heard anything else from anyone about whipping okra.

I remember someone wrote that before, now I know who. I remember thinking I could used pear water sprouts for that.

I got each of the precious 4" block plants into their own 3 gal pot. Moved them over to the comm garden and set them in their spots - top of the row where radish was, right next to the water barrel. I put a hoop tunnel over them. AG19 tunnel, but I might up-heat that to vented plastic. Was going to be plastic today but I gave up looking for it. I know there is some in the shed but I thought there was some laying around somewhere and I just tired of the search. Seems like all I do anymore is search for misplaced tools. My life has become one big swap file and I'm starting to hear a click on the drive.

The tray of 50 blocks/90 seeds sprouted about half the seed by 48 hours. I will have to buy fresh seed immediately next year if my saved seed looks off - these popped right up like okra should. Boil water, let cool to 130F, add seed and remove floaters, let sit an hour or two, then plant into blocks, 93F and dome on. Today I took that tray outside to get them light right away, at 60 hours after planting. Set them on the hot raised bed and put a AG19 sheet over it for shade. 20 minutes later I went to move it and the wind on the sheet had knocked a few of the centermost sprouts over. So I re-rigged it so the sheet cannot touch them. They looked good, an hour before dark. But now it got cool overnight and I wonder if I should have brought them in, instead. I feel like it is almost too late already to have started okra. A solid month after my first starts...I planned to have 50 nice month old starter plants now, instead of 3.

[pepperhead212]

Okra is one of the things that quickly responded to GA-3, when I tested them. I do this every time now - soak in a 250 ppm solution overnight, and they sprout quickly.
Little Lucy seeds, soaked overnight in GA-3, and in petri dish a little over 24 hours. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[JRinPA]

Mine sprouted quick with the humidity dome and heat. I got a strong good number up and got them outside. I now have 3 sets of okra in the ground.

set1 The three early starts are in black pots, with bottom cut out, and buried about 2-3" into ground with black mulch around them to keep the heat in. Drip tape is routed outside the buckets. I'm not sure if I should top water them or not. I'm thinking not, better to make the roots search down as soon as possible. I had AG19 on them for a few days but it got removed, I need to devise taller hoops already.

set2 Ten in 5 ft of double row with drip tape and covered with a plastic tunnel, in the prime flood plain.

set3 About 25 or 30 blocks in the main garlic patch. Well spaced in row at 18" for most. Garlic is 4 rows with two drip tapes. I have not been using the drip tape, not hooked up until this past week. I put the okra blocks in between rows 12 and then a few feet at back of rows 34. I didn't put a full row there because of the tomato trellis in the next row would cause shade/space issues. Garlic will come out around first week of July. I expect the okra will take off right on time, should work well.

[karstopography]

I picked my first okra, one of the red types, yesterday. It’s likely going to be a week or two before I get enough to do anything with. Okra always takes a while here to ramp up production. I did three different successive plantings and only the first wave seeded early in April is getting close to be productive. I’m paying more attention to the okra now with the watering, the cultivation and the first wave has gotten too big for the bunnies to bother. The last batch is in the sunniest spot in the garden, it’s hotter now and I expect it to be faster to maturity. The first two waves are in the native soil, not a raised bed garden, but with more filtered light. That last wave is in a raised bed. My garden now is about 50/50 on footage for native soil and raised beds.

The native soil is pretty good for our region. We have the Norwood series which the USDA describes as

The Norwood series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils on flood plains. They have developed from reddish calcareous, loamy alluvial sediments. Slopes are mainly 0 to 1 percent, but range up to 8 percent.

The goal or hope is to have a steady supply from July into October. If I get a ton, maybe I’ll pickle some.