Is it too late to plant Okra In Arkansas

I lost my chance to get okra this year from my sis in law, hers didn't come up. So I wondered if it was too late here. WE still have 2 solid months of HOT weather here. nights will start cooling off though.

I guess it won't hurt to try. My fall gardens seem to do better than any other plantings.

Kathy_Ann,
I have okra seedlings growing now. I just planted them out 2 weekends ago. They're about 18" high and beginning to throw new leaves very quickly.

I'd say if you can get some established okra seedlings/plants you might have a shot. Might be too late to start from seed.

"it won't hurt to try."

And, by all means start yourself some seeds for a FALL season. You've got the same 8 weeks to get your own seedlings to plant out come September. I absolutely prefer growing in the cooler weather!

Just figure out your first freeze date, find yourself a planting guide that says what you can plant, sow, and go!

Linda

Do you know how long from germination to picking on the okra? I hve got my fall squash planted and they are 90 days till harvest, I count back from frost date to plant date to plant my fall squash. They've been planted for abou t 3 weeks now. Im going to give the okra a shot, plant seeds today, we'll see what happens.

thanks for the help

Our first frost date last year was in november early in the month. Which is early.

http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/growing-okra/

Gymgirl, that is a very good article. Thanks for posting it.

Here is an article about okra by Dr. Jerry Parsons (Texas' super Aggie Gardener)....just kidding about the super Aggie part.....

http://www.plantanswers.com/garden_column/june03/2.htm

One part I found interesting was the number of days for seed germination relative to soil temps.

Thanks for the links.

Thanks, TRock. There are a number of "how tos" on planting on that link. Just scout around a bit.

Kathy_Ann,
Here's the Heirloom Seeds suggested planting schedule.

http://www.heirloomseeds.com/colecrop.htm

If you're in a hurry it helps to pre-sprout. I keep a 1 gallon jug with water and 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide. You can soak okra seeds until the little white root pokes out and then plant. This only takes 2 or 3 days. Then instead of planting 1" deep, I only do 1/2". I planted mine in 4" pots and started feeding them some weak MG when they got the first leaves. In 10 days they're a nice size seedling that can be planted out exactly where you want them. Okra grows fast if you can just get it up in the first place.

I pre-soak everything that's large enough to handle because the faster you can get seeds going, the less chance of over or underwatering and the less chance of insects or disease in the soil getting them.