OKRA, Part llI

I'd say go for it. You will shade the okra some, but not that much. As you said, the corn will be out in a little over two months, or mid-July. That gives you July, August, and early September for Okra.

Vaughin, that plant seems too small to bloom! Weird!

This message was edited May 9, 2012 10:53 PM

That's a mutant Ninja okra plant!!! LOLOLOL!

My two okra transplants are doing nicely -- and I just ate my first 2-inch pod as I couldn't wait any longer!!!

You want to harvest them when they are small and young as they get tough when you let them get too big. I pick them when they're about 3" long.

Thats true. But the plant is usually taller then 3". LOL

Crocodile Dundee: "That's not an okra plant, THIS is an okra plant!" LOL

My poor okra plant is self conscious :P I harvested and ate that okra and it was tasty!


-Vaughn

Podster-- Thanks for tip
on googling "white okra" I'll check that.
I've got seeds that were given to me with no name & have been growing for 2 yrs now, just regular green kind..? Thanks for info.
Kevcarr--I've got same prob as u, no memory, read so much & even forget what was original search about..lol Mullet
The question now is: what makes top leaves skinny, lower ones are big like salad plate size..? Growing nicely, tall & plenty of fruiting..curious...maybe no prob at all. Thanks in advance for any help.

Now that we're having consistent temps in the 90s, my okra is loving it! I'm enjoying the pretty foliage of the Hill Country Red okra I planted this year.

I went ahead with my idea of planting double-rows of sweet corn between my wide rows of okra. The corn is up now and I've got both the okra and the corn mulched with grass clippings and soaker hoses run down the rows. It'll be a race between okra and corn to grab sunlight, but it's only a 73-day corn variety and I think this should work out real well.

GG how long will the okra last around here? Mine is going strong and a beautiful plant but I have no idea how long it will last so I can plan to use the box on a winter crop. September?

Okra will grow and produce all the way through the summer until the first frost. Of course, you can always cut it down before if you tire of it.

ditto.

We had okra last year until mid-October....

We never got tired of our okra in 2011, and I raised a bunch of it. We had it fresh and roasted 2 or 3 times a week, we froze a lot of it, and I pickled lots. I've been rationing the pickled okra - I think I only have three pint jars left, just enough to last me until I start harvesting Stewart's Zeebest pods this summer!

my burgundy seedlings are coming right along. Put out two plants in 16" pots on the deck with the maters. Hopefully the deer leave it alone


-Vaughn

Looks like we'll be having okra soon!!

Wow!!! My okra plant is only 4-5 inches tall.

Belle

Mine are only about a foot or so tall!

Here are my Okra plants, producing already ... weee

Mine is about 7ft tall...producing well.

Here are my little okra plants. Not the best pic and I also need to figure out what to do with that onion! LOL I keep waiting for it to give up and fall over, but it's trooping on.

Steph,
Those okra plants look great! Very sturdy stems already. You should have about a gazillion bushels before it's over with!

I planned on planting Okra this year, to pickle it. But my garden is full, I'm squeezing in the last 10 or so tomato plants. I don't know why i have so many but these are the " have to grow" that are left. Lol Up until today the heat hasn't been bad.

Anyway, I know the okra will grow and produce until frost but it gets really big and will block the sun. How many plants would it take to get enough to pickle, don't really like to just eat it plain? How many could i grow in containers? Even tho I live on acreage I'm gravitating to growing in containers, less weeds, less bugs, less disease. Better soil.

1Lisac,
I just planted okra and eggplant seedlings out last week. We've got at least 4 months of scorching heat ahead.

I planted one seeding per 6.5 gallon bucket. They're free-draining, with holes in the bottoms and about 1/4" up around the sides. I put a couple dwarf, bush eggplants in planters (5 gallons or less).

Linda

I know I have plenty of time. Just trying to decide if I want to bother with them and if so how many plants and container or ground? Thanks!

"Anyway, I know the okra will grow and produce until frost but it gets really big and will block the sun"

Not necessarily, Lisa. Baby Bubba is a short growing variety bearing full-size pods. Tops out around 4 ft in height. Little Lucy, a burgundy/purple variety if I remember correctly is very ornamental and usually only grows about 3 ft tall. In other words you have lots of choices other than the standard Clemson Spineless or Stewart's types.

Shoe

I'm hoping to use the okra plants TO block the sun on my brassica transplants...

My Stewart's Zeebest & HCR Heirloom Okra seeds have been soaking since last night & will be going directly into the new pots tomorrow morning. The Burgundy Okra we transplanted over the weekend are looking good and none the worse for wear, it was real touchy when they got moved, roots came out of soil...

The sole survivor of okra seed saved from last year, actually in it's final resting place...

Some Burgundy Red Okra that made the transplant, hopefully for a productive summer & fall...

Kev!

Our okra seedlings are about the same size! LOL! Let the games begin!

OK... That sounds like a challenge...LOL.....

ahem..we weren't suppose to plant them until now? Humm..well mine don't seem to mind that much and are doing well. I'm sure they might show more hardship later but *shrugs* I hated I let time slip away and just a few days ago started tomato seeds for fall. Where did the time go..

My okra had a growth spurt! The first 2 pics are of Hill Country Red and the last pic is of Emerald Green Velvet.

Shoe-I guess what I meant is the seeds that I already have, are for Okra Plants that will grow big.

That's what I love about Okra is the huge window in TX for starting it.

araness-I'm also wondering where the time went? But while your garden is slowing down mine is just kicking in. About a month ago we had a week that was in the 70s during the day and 60s at night plus rain every day. My tomato and peppers just sat there, but since it has warmed up they are doing great, we could use more rain tho. In any other part of the country we would be in different states. Lol

I could do with out the 60% humidity tho. THAT I'm not use to.

Not my intention to start this late... Started seeds end of Feb?? Started good but didn't have a place to put them. Then put some out in raised bed, planted too deep, never germinated... Finally got these seeds and din't mess up enough to kill them, yet. Will get these last few seeds going and this will last attempt for this year... We should still have enough warm weather to get some okra before the first frost... Doing these last plants just to see what they look & taste like for next year...

Plz excuse all the dead and dying plants near. Serg hasn't felt well and we haven't cut and cleaned out the EB's yet.

Its never my intention to start late but it usually happens anyway... Kev you should have plenty of time to get plenty of Okra.

Last year, when I started my okra seeds in the cool, they stalled and didn't give me much. Which is why I've waited for the heat to turn up before putting them out this time. We shall see!

Just a quick update on my late okra. Our son is back at the house staying with us for a while and his dog dug in the pot that had my Hill Country Red Okra in it. Just one of the seeds germinated and this was after about 10 days, after soaking the seeds for a day. Stewart's Zeebest still hasn't broken through, but they were done the same day as the HCR & that one just sprouted about 2 days ago.

There is good news though... Burgundy Red and the saved-seed Okra from last year are doing great, and the Cowhorn 22 has 4 good-sized sprouts working, just wish they were spaced out a little differently....Thought I had a picture of the NOID Okra but I guess I didn't take one. It's just about the same size as the Burgundy Red.

Burgundy Red Okra

Cowhorn 22