Growing Okra - Identifying Bad Seed

[Dave2000]

Definitely seems like my past seeds were bad. Bought seed from a different seller, soaked it in water for a day at which point the seed had swollen to about 3X its prior size and I could see the sprouts starting to poke out the end of the seed. Put some seed in the ground and some in pots, high germination rate and all came up between 2 to 5 days later. They were a little sluggish to grow but now that it's warmer and sunnier they're doing better except for a few that are in a bad location that's shaded most of the day.

 

[myfirstgarden]

I just started my okra seeds last night. I am not even sure what they really are...
My seeds are from the seed savers exchange, which sells at a local market.
Where are you guys finding 20 cent seed packets???

 

[so lucky]

I just started my okra seeds last night. I am not even sure what they really are...
My seeds are from the seed savers exchange, which sells at a local market.
Where are you guys finding 20 cent seed packets???

Sometimes the discount stores have them. I think one of the dollar stores had some 20 cent seeds this spring. I don't think I will mess with them again. Of course, if you only want 2 to 5 seeds to germinate out of a package, then maybe 20 cents is not a bad price. Even if they are labeled for this year, they could have been stored in too hot a room, and messed up the germination that way. Who knows what happens before they get to the cash register!

 

[CountryGirl]

I've heard that if you put seed in a glass of water the good seed sinks to the bottom while the bad seed will float. Never tried it though.

 

[CountryGirl]

Found the link.

http://www.dannylipford.com/video/how-to-determine-if-old-seeds-are-still-good-for-planting/

 

[Dave2000]

Thanks for the link CountryGirl. Almost all of my bad seed didn't float, but all that float seem to be bad. In retrospect, they didn't look or have any other properties that were different from the good seed I'm using now, till I couldn't get most of them to sprout and those that did looked very light yellow without any trace of green to them.

After the past 4 days of > 85F temperature and sun the new batch has doubled in size and are budding.

 

[ducks4you]

Glad to read this bc my okra hasn't come up. I'm buying new seeds this PM. I'll try the soaking and let you know. I've had awesome okra crops for 2 years straight, BUT, they took a LOT of watering, btw.

 

[Dave2000]

^ Odd, I've read people claiming okra don't need much water at all, that you can wait till the ground starts cracking open. Then again there's a big difference between keeping them alive and keeping them productive.

Is there any trick to saving seeds or just leave a few on the plants to mature to full size, lay the seeds out on a paper towel and let them completely dry? What I do with other seeds is I have a cardboard box with a fan at one end and a hole at the other and I put seeds in little bowls inside to dry.

 

[baymule]

^ Odd, I've read people claiming okra don't need much water at all, that you can wait till the ground starts cracking open. Then again there's a big difference between keeping them alive and keeping them productive.

Is there any trick to saving seeds or just leave a few on the plants to mature to full size, lay the seeds out on a paper towel and let them completely dry? What I do with other seeds is I have a cardboard box with a fan at one end and a hole at the other and I put seeds in little bowls inside to dry.

I have okra seed that was given to me 5 years ago in the form of dried pods. I have saved the dried pods and saved the seeds only. It doesn't seem to matter. Let the pods get dry on the plant, then pick them. That way you know the seeds are fully mature.

 

[hoodat]

I grew Okra when I worked at a greenhouse in Montana.

When they seemed slow to sprout I talked "southern y'all" around them, and then they grew just fine.

Cajun French works well also.