Topic: FAO EJ OKRA!!

[Hyacinth]

(reads like some Slav language, dunnit?) ::)

EJ, I'm SO excited. 9 okra seeds planted Sat.morning.....this afters seven have germinated already 8) :D

Cheers!

[Mrs Ava]

WHAT!  Right, I am off to the house of green to have stiff words with mine!  They have been in twice as long as yours and not a sausage...or a seedling.  Hmph!

I shall be round 'borrowing' your harvest Lish!!  ;)

[Hyacinth]

LOL.....nothing yesterday, then all these babes this afters.....amazing ::)

[cleo]

I think I will watch this one with interest-they germinate OK,have flowers to die for-but can I get a decent crop???

Not trying them this year but if anyone gets a good yield from any non hybrid -yes please ;D

[Hyacinth]

Practically, Steph.....I'm not expecting any okra :'(....pleased to hear the flowers are lovely tho :D....and it's always fun to grow something new.

[Hyacinth]

EJ.......progress report :D

9 sown - 9 germinated = 100% success 8)

Any luck with yours yet? Do you want some seeds? - got some left over ;D

[sally_cinnamon]

Hi all,
Just want to say THANKS to lish for the okra seeds (I sent a cheeky pm to ask if there were any spares and I was in luck!!!)- I put them in the airing cupboard in a tub to germinate and they already have sprouted!  Now they are in (warm) compost, still in the airing cupboard until they poke out through the soil... How exciting!  What stage is everyone elses plants at?   :)

[Truffle]

Does anyone else have problems growing okra? - I have three seedlings in the greenhouse but they're growing REALLY slowly and the first true leaf looks a little chlorotic- no idea whats going on, everything else is thriving!

Any ideas anyone?

[Mrs Ava]

Well mine all germinated, finally, and I now have 20 little plants.  Just begining to produce their true leaves.  Becuase of the chilly weather the greenhouse has been constantly closed and I noticed that everything has suddenly really started growing in there.  I will take some photos later.

[umshamrock]

Hi everyone,

I tried okra this year a few different ways. I planted some in Jiffy 7s in March (in the greenhouse) which germinated but I lost half due to damping off and the rest look very yellowy and sad. The once I planted in the ground outside germinated but then got swamped by weeds/and or eaten. I also planted some last week in compost in the greenhouse but haven't seen a sign of them yet.

I'll let you all know what happens.....

[Rosyred]

Ive sowed about 9 seeds I think and had them in my plastic greenhouse but now i've put them in the conservatory to hurry them up to catch up with you lot. How many orka do you get per plant are they like runner beans the way they grow.

[Hyacinth]

Can't answer any questions about Okra, cos they're new to me, but waiting for the answers too - ie, best in pots in the 'house, or can I d 3 to a trough, eventual height??? So many questions...  ??? ;)

Progress report on my 9 plantlets. All abt.2-2.5", first true leaves showing, all sturdy.

Exciting!

[carloso]

sounds like they grow to approx 5 ft ish, and reading through the interent spiness they are not !! and to wear protective gear well shirt sleeves and gloves when harvesting

It appears they need to be planted 18" apart to get a better crop and thrives well at 80 - 90 so maybe a bit of experiment needed , Plant some out side and keep a couple in the greehouse too

It recommends that they dont like there roots been tamped with to much so be very careful if you cant plant them stright into the ground

anyway good luck be interested to hear about anyone who has planted them outside in past yrs and what luck they had ?

carl

[Hyacinth]

Carl, many thanks for the research :) 5' and spiny, eh? Well, I'll volunteer to do the outside test, then! - have just finished setting stuff in my 6x4 'house - 7 toms (KPs Little Maids ;D), 1 cucumber, 2 sweet basil, 2 thai basil, 4 chilli plants - room for a 5' spiny monster there ain't ::)

But I appreciate that they need hotter temps than we can provide outside, so I'm planning on a v.sheltered SW facing spot....they takes their chances. Stephan writes that the flowers are lovely, so I'm still excited (if not v. optimistic of getting fruits).

 ;DLishka

[saddad]

You'll need a really hot spot for Okra, it is just too cold in most of the UK even when it is warm by our standards, getting them to grow at all is even harder than getting them to germinate!
 ;D

[Rosyred]

Okra doesn't start moving till temps get into the 80's, it actually enjoys the 90's! So I intercrop it into a double row of leaf lettuce, following the lettuce by a few weeks.

The pre-soaking is an excellent idea, even for direct sowing. I direct sow at 1seed/inch and thin to 18", but some people plant densely, even thinning to 1/6". They will end up with many straight stalks without many branches, and fruit only at the end of the growing columnar plant.

By spacing widely, the plant will develop a branching structure with ten or maybe more fruiting points per 18" of row. Math will tell you that I am getting more growing points per foot of row. My plants become stump-rooted and sprad widely, up to 3 ft wide, so leave plenty of room for this crop! This year i'm planning to tip-prune the initial growing tip at about 2 ft high, to encourage uniform branching.

Last year, I found that after strong branching and harvest began, It was good to prune off the larger leaves which formed the initial plant before it branched, which had grown 1 ft wide leaes at that point. This allowed easier access to find the fruit without brushing up on so many spines.

I suggest using light pruning shears to harvest okra, as I've found snapping or knife-cutting them increases chance of getting spined. A two handed operation with secateurs in one hand and grasping the fruit in the other. I pick the rows with plastic trays used for under-the-bed storage.
Okra is fairly fragile and shouldn't be piled too deep in a box, or treated too roughly, or else by market time it will have dark bruises along the ridges and no be as attractive cosmetically. Okra can be picked at any size, and some people prefer small okra, mainly because it will always be tender. However, well-grown okra can remain tender through the larger sizes. Don't let customers cheat you out of half your crop by talking you into picking them too small, unless they are willing to pay a premium. Since Okra harvest takes place in the heat of summer, take care to reove field heat after picking, don't just let them sweat in a box. Spread them out to cool or just pack them into quarts and let them cool off. I get $2/qt.

The final word on whether or not an okra pod remains tender is to test it by snapping off the tip of the pod. If it snaps cleanly and crisply, it has not yet become fibrous and is just as good as a smaller pod. Under stress, the maximum size will decrease, so keep them well watered, and top dress them halfway into the season. They are amazingly productive.

One last word. If any exist, target the (east)Indian community, they are massive okra('bhindi') consumers, and can usually be contacted/networked through their dominance in the motel industry.

Oh, I forgot. Last year I ended up pulling my okra out of the ground in the fall with a chain and a front-end loader, some had stumps 4" in diameter!

This is a copy and paste from another site I think an over seas site. I might not bother with mine now if you have to be careful with them.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Sierra Leoneans, and probably other West Africans, also use it a lot. If you have any around, it's worth checking.

[Hyacinth]

Sierra Leoneans, and probably other West Africans, also use it a lot. If you have any around, it's worth checking.

Asians, too......my local shop's just round the corner...

Oh well, it's still going to be fun to grow (and I can always sell off my surplus fruits :P ;D)

[cleo]

Lishka-if you get a decent crop outside please send me some seeds-I will  love you for ever ;D. They will crop under cover but in my experience it`s just a few. Living in a semi rural village is nice but I sure do miss the Asian stores of Leeds-I adore those slimey fruits.

[Mrs Ava]

Blimey, sounds painful!  Well, tis going to be fun aye Lish.  Even if we only get a light harvest.  I love them, but noone else out of my lot does, so I shall have them all to myself!  ;D