I need more Okra!

[JimWWhite]

My Dad taught me this trick and I've always had good luck with okra. But not this year. I think my okra 'box' is just too wet and that's why it failed.

It's my understanding that the freezing of the okra seeds makes them open up faster once they're in the ground. The other thing he always told me was to wait until after June 1st and plant okra at dusk and then walk over the bed to pack it down. He said okra likes the heat and it likes to sleep tight. So that's what I do.

A few years ago when my granddaughters Halie and Olivia were here they were helping me plant the garden. I brought out the ice trays with the cubes and you could see the two seeds in each one. I had them drop them in the holes I'd poked with the end of a hoe handle and then covered them up. When they asked what they were planting I told them we were planting okra ice cream. You should have seen their faces when I told 'em that. Ewwwww!!! They went. Okra ice cream!!! Yukkk... I think that was the last really good crop I was able to make. Next year I'll do it differently and build a real box and fill it up with garden mix and plant it like everything else.

 

[Ken Adams]

Okra seeds should be scratched and soaked in water overnight before planting much like morning glories and need heat to perform well. Two years ago I had a bumper crop...last year nada. This year they are off to a good start

 

[journey11]

I always soak mine, but never thought of scratching them up.

The high has been 70 degrees the past two days and most days we're barely getting into the 80's. No okra for me this year.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

@TheSeedObsesser Hill Country Okra? Tell me more...... Have always planted Cowhorn, Clemson Spineless or Louisiana Green Velvet, but ready to step out and diversify into new varieties!

Sorry that it took me so long to reply, it's been really busy here - still is!

Hill Country Red Okra is a Texas heirloom, main reason I thought that you would want to try it. Pods are green with red blush, as are plants. Pods don't seem to be a cowhorn type but not so much a short and fat okra either. I don't know much else about it as I've never grown it before (it's available through many seed companies). I would have had some Hill Country Red plants this year but a late frost got to the freshly planted seed.

I do have two Clemson Spineless volunteers that seem quite weak/inbred, hopefully they'll catch up and produce a little bit before season's end.

 

[baymule]

I hope your Clemson Spineless make it! I have some cowhorn okra seed, but it's several years old. I think it is a mix, some of the leaves are deeply lobed and cut, some are more rounded. It was given to me, so it could be anything.

 

[Ken Adams]

I'm working with Cherokee long pod and jing orange okra. Pods and stems are deep orange, quite lovely

 

[baymule]

I'm working with Cherokee long pod and jing orange okra. Pods and stems are deep orange, quite lovely

What color is the Jing orange okra after it's cooked?

 

[seedcorn]

Keep us in loop on jing orange okra. Read different sources, sounds like an interesting variety.

 

[Dave2000]

I have Clemson spineless growing again but it took a while after an unusually cold and cloudy spring. Seeded some around April 1st and it didn't take. Seeded some two weeks later and half took but it was too cold and windy and all that got knocked out except two stray sprouts that somehow ended up in the middle of my tomatoes which I didn't pull up because they were all I had at the time.

Seeded again and staked and tied the new spouts to survive wind, and finally some buds are due to open within a week... while the two strays in the middle of my tomatoes are almost 3' tall and gave me a few pods already. At least those two have achieved escape velocity, are tall enough to get sun without being smothered by the tomatoes.

Now comes the onslaught of Japanese beetles! Oh well, at least I won't have to worry about topping them off later in order to not need a ladder to harvest. On the bright side the cool weather meant I didn't have to water anything else as much.

What "usually" works well for me as far as seed prep is to soak them for a couple days in water, at which point I can see the seed swelled larger and the root started to poke out a little bit. Some say to soak them in weak tea but I never found it necessary.