okra

[muddygirl]

I have grown three okra plants which are flowering nicely and consider this a major success for someone who can fail with anything that is not a potato! Now I need to know how to get the most out of them. Do I keep them indoors or outdoors, in pots or growbags or ground, to feed or not to feed and what with?!! I'm sure someone out there knows... please help!!

[muddygirl]

[Merry Tiller]

I'm treating them like an indoor tomato

[MarthaMad]

My Neighbor has them in their plot.....

[john_miller]

Okra is Hibiscus esculentus which gives you some idea of its cultural requirements. All the heat a U.K. summer can give it wouldn't be too much. I would feed them with a balanced fertiliser every 10 days with a pinch of epsom salts mixed in. It is important that you regularly pick the fruit, every few days when they are growing quickly, as it is best young (the fruit will not get much longer than 10cm, after that it is just ripening the seeds).

[muddygirl]

thanks for the advice John. I still have mine in large pots and they seem ok . this weather is tempting me to put them in the allotment but I think I'm being fooled (by the sunburn on my shoulders) into thinking that our climate is hot enough! what are the ones in marthamad's neighbours plot like?

[MarthaMad]

To be honest, I am not a big fan of my neighbour... He's been caught picking my straberries and blackberries in the past. 

I have not actually seen them, we were having an 'unusual veg plant-off'- I opened with chickpeas -
He countered with some weird indian pumpkin,
I raised with Lumina Pumpkins -
He raised with looka squash.
I Raised with 22 heirloom varieties of tomatos
He Raised with his last bet of Okra-
I won with Tomatillos - I Still had plenty of veg in the bag to hedge my bets!   ;D 

But if he's there tonight i'll have a snoop.

[muddygirl]

thanks. watch your back though, he sounds very competetive! If he annoys you too much I can come round with some noisy children to spoil a quiet allotment moment. they also have water squirting guns and a fairly  good aim!

[Veggie Mad]

I have grown three okra plants which are flowering nicely and consider this a major success for someone who can fail with anything that is not a potato! Now I need to know how to get the most out of them. Do I keep them indoors or outdoors, in pots or growbags or ground, to feed or not to feed and what with?!! I'm sure someone out there knows... please help!!

Can you please tell me when you started to plant the seeds, on my seed pack it said to start them off in Jan - isn't that too early?  I tried about 6 seeds in March but nothing germinated.

Any help is greatly appreciated, I love eating okra, so would love to grow some plants.

[muddygirl]

I think I started them in March too. I kept them in the house initially and covered the pots with cling film.I didn't have many seeds, maybe 6 or so, and most germinated. I lost a couple as the stems rotted at about 10cm high or the tops shrivelled but the surviving three seem happy in my cheapo plastic covered shelf greenhouse in this hot sunny weather. they don't seem mega productive at the moment but definitely have something worth eating!

[MarthaMad]

I spoke witha another lottie friend who is doing okra.... They are doing them outside of the coldframe...  but the okra pods keep forming, but hte keep droping.