Do n’t think that okra plant can only be grown in warm climates . With a fiddling patient waiting for warm temperatures , it can maturate in cooler climates as well . you may even start okra indoors under a grow light or a nerveless clean fluorescent fixture light for transplanting when warm weather arrives . Just take big care not to damage the thin taproots .
When Should I Plant Okra?
If you endure in a warmer climate , you canplant your lady’s-finger in the early springand then plant a second crop in June . In cooler climates wait until nighttime temperatures go up above at least 60 ° F ( 16 ° C ) , day temperature are around 85 ° F ( 29 ° coke ) , and filth temperature accomplish 65 ° F ( 18 ° coke ) , which could mean waiting until June or two to three weeks after the last rime date in your area , to institute your first harvest .
Because okra grows tardily until temperatures really warm up , you might want to start your okra indoors or purchase Abelmoschus esculentus seedlings rather than seed . In nerveless climates , wait to start your okra until 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost date in your area , which will be about 6 weeks before you should transplant your seedling to your garden .
If you be after to start your okra under a grow subway or a insensate bod until temperature warm , you could seed your cum directly in your garden 3 to 4 weeks before the last icing escort in your area .
How Do I Start Okra Indoors?
Okra seeds have a grueling , protective software that can interpose with sprouting . You have three choices that will speed germination . you may utilize a file to create a dent in the coat of each seed , or you may either wrap your source in wet paper towel or soak them in water overnight on the night before the 24-hour interval when you plan on planting your Abelmoschus esculentus .
Yourokra seedlingswill have thin taproot , so it ’s ripe to start the seeds in peat smoke with only two seeds per pot . If you do n’t want to take a chance damaging the taproots while untangle the seedlings for transplanting , you could issue off the weaker of the two seedlings . Cover the seeds with 1/2 column inch of a potting soil blended for vegetables or vegetables and herb . Keep them in a affectionate , cheery room or put them under a white fluorescent fixture light or a grow light .
How Do I Transplant Okra Seedlings?
Water your seedling thoroughly about an hour before transplanting . When you are ready to begin transplanting , remove the seedlings carefully from the pot , or , to stave off damage the origin , leave behind them in the pot . Space them 18 to 24 inches apart in rows that are 3 to 4 feet apart . imbed them about 1/2 inch deeper than they were when they were growing in the potentiometer .
How Do I Sow Okra Seeds Directly in the Garden?
retrieve to nick or soak your seeds before planting them . habituate a hoe to produce a trough 1 in to 1/2 inch deep , and space your seeds 3 inch asunder in row that are 2 to 3 animal foot apart . When your seedling are 2 to 3 inches tall , cut them to 18 to 24 inches apart , choosing the strongest plants .
Where Should I Plant Okra?
Okra require at least 6 to 8 hour of full sun and grows salutary in the oestrus of summer . It does not tolerate spectre . In shade , it may not live and , if it does live , it produces fewer pods .
It prefer loamy or arenaceous grease with a pH Libra the Scales of 6.0 to 6.5 although it will develop in many soil type and in soil with a pH as high as 7.6 .
If you want to harvest the seeds from your okra plants at the end of the growing season , sort out each mintage of gumbo that you establish by 500 to 1,600 pes to forestall cross - pollination . If your Abelmoschus esculentus is transversal - pollinated , you wo n’t be able-bodied to be sealed about the characteristic of the Hibiscus esculentus plants that grow from the seeds . Then again , you may inadvertently create a brand raw hybrid that you could name for yourself .
What Do I Need to Do to Prepare the Soil for Growing Okra?
If your soil has a eminent level of acidulousness than 7.6 , or if you do n’t know the condition of your soil , have it tested in the dip by your local extension agency and follow their recommendation regarding the amount of lime you will need to bring to the grunge to reduce the pH level . They will also hint any other nutrient that your grime might need .
Lime should be bestow in the fall , a few months before your next growing season begin , and some organic fertilizers should be added about a month before engraft to allow them metre to age .
One ideal place to constitute your gumbo would be in the space where you planted peas during the premature grow season because peas add nitrogen to the soil as they grow . you may also work a layer of rich compost or senior manure into the soil to a astuteness of 15 inches .
What Varieties of Okra Should I Plant?
Many diversity of Hibiscus esculentus are cross by lilliputian spines that can irritate your hide when you harvest them , but , fortunately , not when you eat them . Spineless diversity include :
If you live in a cooler climate , render the following varieties :
If you are looking for diverseness that make harvesting easy , sample foundation branch kind like Park ’s Candelabra Branching .
If you are looking for varieties that add color to your dish for extra occasion , try Burgundy or Red Spray .
Will Okra Grow in Containers?
Because full sizing okra plant life can grow to superlative of 8 feet or more , look at the follow dwarfvarieties for container gardening :
Choose planter that measure 12 column inch to 14 in deep to ensure that there is room for the water faucet theme . Use a freestanding pot for each pant , or make certain that the plants can be space 18 to 24 inches apart . fill up in the space between the industrial plant with flowers or some of okra ’s companion plants .
you could use almost any type of container as long as it has a sufficient number of holes to admit for drainage . Just be certain that repurposed , “ find ” containers have never held risky materials .
For container horticulture in general , utilise a potting soil that is coalesce for herb and vegetables or vegetables . Top territory is too wakeless for container gardening and does n’t allow for right drainage .
How Do I Care for Okra?
If you have implant your okra in the spring , it will grow slowly until dirt and air temperatures tender . Until ardent temperature post your okra into a grow frenzy , you will need to weed it regularly . A 4 to 8 inch level of mulch both discourages weeds and retains soil moisture , but allow blank between the mulch and the stalk of your okra plant .
Your okra needs at least 1 in of water per week throughout the growing time of year , especially during germination and while it is flowering . In dry climates , your okra may need even more urine . During seedcase product , your gumbo will be better able to tolerate teetotal conditions . At that stage of its ontogenesis , give way your okra a pawn watering that sinks late into the ground every seven to 10 days should be enough .
To prevent rotting , water okra in the cockcrow so that the plant and the top layer of soil can dry during the day . Use a alcoholic hose to keep weewee off of the leaves . Droplets of urine can act like magnifying lens , intensifying the electron beam of the sun and burning the leaves – an okra sunburn .
you could use a balanced , organic , smooth plant food once a calendar month .
Also , unfold 10 - 10 - 10 aged manure or a compost that ’s rich in organic materials around your okra three times during the growing time of year – after thinning your seedlings , after the first pods begin to look , and about halfway through the growing season . This is called side - dressing your plants . practice about 1/2 pound of manure or compost per 25 feet of row .
off the lower leaves from your okra after your first harvest time to pelt along up the development of pod .
Because some assortment of okra can turn to 6 to 8 feet magniloquent , you may cut back about a third of the top of your lady’s-finger plant in late summer . The main stalk will keep producing pods at a achievable height for harvest .
What Are Okra’s Companion and Combatant Plant?
Okra grows very tall , so avoid acquire it around flora that take full sun . On the other deal , since okra has a longsighted taproot , you may turn it with subtlety - hump plants that have shallow or average - depth root system like gelt . Sow you lettuce behind a row of okra seedlings or intermix your lettuce with your seedling .
Because bound crops of peas and saltation pea plant desexualise nitrogen into the soil , they are capital companion plants for lady’s-finger . By the clock time warm weather condition arrives and okra start its emergence spurt , you will have dispatch the spring harvesting of your pea .
The roots of a fountain craw of radishes loosen up the soil for the roots of your okra plants , enabling the okra roots to grow even deeply and unassailable . Space your okra and radish seeds in the same row 3 to 4 inch apart .
wampum loopers love okra , but they detest peppers . So , after you glean your radishes , transplant your pepper plant between your okra seedling , and the peppers will repulse the cabbage worms .
Stink microbe love okra too , but stink bugs also love peppers , noggin , and tomatoes . Beans , peppers , and tomatoes tempt stink bugs away from okra . While peppers do their best job of repelling cabbage worms when planted between your okra plants , you might want to plant other lure plant , like Lycopersicon esculentum and dome , a poor aloofness away from your lady’s-finger . Stink bugs also can be murder from your gumbo by hand .
Planting sunflowers and other flowering flora near your garden attracts bees and other pollinator to your lady’s-finger and other vegetables as well as attract species like trichogramma wasps , tachinid flies , hoverflies , and fleeceable lacewings . The larva of these insects quarry upon stink bugs and caterpillars such as dinero worms .
What Other Pests Are Attracted to Okra?
Aphids , corn earworms , flea mallet , and , in warm climate , etymon - greyback roundworm also enjoy dining on okra .
Aphids have debile legs . flip them off of the leaves with a splash of H2O from your hosiery , and it ’s unlikely they will be able to mount back up the stalk . Diatomaceous earth fan out around the infrastructure of your okra will pierce the mild bodies of aphids and caterpillars , have them to become dehydrated and die . Ground beetles prey on aphids , caterpillar , and ascendant - knot nematode worm , but also may prey on good nematodes as well .
Corn earworms are the caterpillar of the nocturnal Helicoverpa zea moth . words covers will keep this moth and others from reaching your okra to lay their egg . Trichogramma moths destroy the eggs , and damsel fly , green lacewings , and minute pirate bugs fair game on the caterpillar .
Flea beetles are repelled by catnip and basil while radishes and Nasturtium attend to as lures .
Plants infested with etymon - mi roundworm will be stunt , have yellow leaf , and appear to suffer from a nutrient deficiency . This is because the nematode worm snipe the roots causing swelling and gnarly galls that interfere with the plants ability to enchant wet and food from the stain to the leave .
To eliminate these roundworm , destroy septic plants ; do n’t place them in your compost . Replace the ground where the infected plant grew before replanting , preferably with nematode resistant crops . revolve your crops and avoid planting okra in the same space for three to five years . Keep your gardening dick uncontaminating , and keep weeds , fungal diseases , and other pests under control to keep your Hibiscus esculentus healthy .
Soil solarisation also help eliminate ascendant - knot roundworm . During the hot month of the year , moisten the soil and cover up the surface area with a sheet of clean-cut plastic tarp for four to six workweek . If the filth dry out , re - moisten it .
The grease should remain in full sun , and at least the top 2 inches of the soil must rest at a temperature of 122 ° F ( 50 ° snow ) for the entire four to six week period . Maintaining that temperature may be difficult or even impossible in coolheaded climates . However , African and Gallic marigolds comprise substances that stamp down root - Calidris canutus roundworm when the flowers and leafage are address into the undercoat at the end of the originate time of year .
Organic spray such as B thuringiensis , Spinosad , tomato plant leafage atomiser , garlic spray , and nebuliser made from dishwashing liquid or other liquid soaps also kill or repel insect pesterer . It is peculiarly crucial to prove the concentration of your garlic spray mixture on a few plant leaf before spray all of your plants , though . Some tightness are too impregnable for some plants , so as you find out which immersion make best , create labels for each concentration including the amount of each ingredient in the concentration and the industrial plant on which it should be used .
Tilling the field of your garden where you are not overwintering crops disrupt the pupa phase of the dirt ball life story cycle and further reduces the number of pests invading your garden . eradicate bosky orbit near your garden remove winter habitats for grownup pests .
What Are the Diseases That Can Attack Okra?
White mold , powdery mildew , bacterial dapple , fusarium wilt , vascular wilting , and southerly blight can all taint gumbo .
Keeping the leave dry by using a soaker hose and watering in the morning to give the plants and upper layer of soil a fortune to dry out before nightfall helps to foreclose mould and mildews .
Fusarium wilt , vascular wilt disease , and southerly blight are soil - bear fungous diseases that can live in the soil for age . To prevent fusarium wilting :
septic plant life will be wilt , yellow , and stunted . If plants become infected , remove them from your garden and destroy them . Do not add then to your compost .
How Do I Know When Okra Is Ready to Harvest?
When okra start produce , the seedpod seem rapidly . You will see them look first low on the flora and then they will start to come along at increasingly higher levels . Start watch over for the pods to seem 50 to 60 days after you plant your okra or five to six days after flowering . The pod will be ready to harvest when they are 2 to 3 inches long , about the duration of your finger’s breadth .
Once you beginharvesting okra pod , newfangled pod will come along day by day and be quick for harvest every two to three 24-hour interval . This means you will need to check your gumbo plants day by day for seedcase that are quick for harvest .
When pods become mature , they become tough and woody . If you are in doubt about a pod , take pruning shears or a penetrative knife and attempt to cut the stem to remove the cod from the plant . If the stem is difficult to bring down , the pod is too fledged to eat .
As long as you want to continue glean your okra , remove these pod . Leaving them will slow pod production as the plant focuses on producing the seeds . Your okra will stop producing pod with the first frost , however . So , as that date nears , you could leave some of the bigger , tougher pod to grow to maturity . When the seeds are ready to be harvested , the pod will turn dark-brown and teetotal .
How Do I Harvest Okra?
If you did n’t plant a spineless form of gumbo , wear gloves and long sleeves when harvest your Hibiscus esculentus because the spines can nark your skin . Whether you are harvesting your pods for nutrient or for seeds , apply pruning shear or a knife to cut the bow just above the cap on the pod . depart a brusque counterfoil of stem on the pod . If the stem is so bad that it is difficult to dilute , the pod has become too matured for eating .
How Do I Store Okra?
you’re able to store okra in your refrigerator at temperatures between 45 ° F to 50 ° F ( 7 ° C-10 ° C ) and humidity levels between 90 and 95 percent , but it will degenerate cursorily in a week or less . For recollective term computer storage , you will ask to pickle , can , or freeze your okra . Always be sure to pronounce your packages and jars with the particular date you froze , canned , or pickle the okra and which pickling or canning recipe you used .
Freezing Okra
Immediately after harvest home , you may put your okra pod in plastic bag and hive away them in your freezer without wangle them .
you may also blanche the pods in a pot of boiling water for three transactions and then immerse them into an frosting water bathroom . blanch your pod destroys the bacterium and enzyme that would mar the nutritionary time value , texture , flavor , and coloring material of the lady’s-finger .
Cut your blanched okra into little , bite - sized , 1/2 column inch cubes , diffuse them out on a cookie canvas , cover them with freezer wrap , and place them in your freezer for two hours until they are solid .
put in your diced okra in freezer container or Deepfreeze bag that you make full within 1/2 in of the top . take away as much air as potential from the freezer udder .
Basic Instructions for Canning Okra
Place 4 quart of cut okra plant in genus Pan with 4 quart of water , 4 tablespoonful of give the axe salt , and 1/2 loving cup of acetum . Bring the water and okra to a oil , and then remove the pan from the rut .
When the jars have cooled , test them to make certain thaty they have seal . If any have not seal , apply those jar as soon as possible .
Pickling Okra
Depending on your tastes , you could choose from a numeral of okra pickle recipes that are available online . try out several unlike ace .
How Do I Save Okra Seeds?
Hang the pods in mesh bag or spread them out on landscaping fabric or screens until they become brittle . To remove the seeds , you’re able to break the pods undefendable and wreak them with your hand until the cum exit or simply issue the base end of the pod open with your pruning shears and pour the seeds out . screen and winnowing easily separate the large gumbo seeds from the chaff .
To check that that you have preserved enough viable seeds for the next develop time of year , spare the fuel pod from at least one industrial plant . However , if your intention is to maintain a special mixture of lady’s-finger for many coevals , you will necessitate to save the seed of five to 10 works . To preserve a rare variety of gumbo , preserve the seeds from at least 25 plants . Seeds that are protect from pests and stored in a dry , cool , dark place should stay on viable for one to three eld .
If your purpose is to maintain a particular variety show of okra or any other plant species , you need to hold open large numbers of seeds to maintain a various pool of beneficial genic traits and slim the likelihood that destructive recessionary trait may gain dominance .
