Full grown okra plant11/3/2022 ![]() ![]() Since Okra harvest takes place in the heat of summer, take care to reove field heat after picking, don't just let them sweat in a box. Don't let customers cheat you out of half your crop by talking you into picking them too small, unless they are willing to pay a premium. However, well-grown okra can remain tender through the larger sizes. Okra can be picked at any size, and some people prefer small okra, mainly because it will always be tender. ![]() Okra is fairly fragile and shouldn't be piled too deep in a box, or treated too roughly, or else by market time it will have dark bruises along the ridges and no be as attractive cosmetically. I pick the rows with plastic trays used for under-the-bed storage. A two handed operation with secateurs in one hand and grasping the fruit in the other. I suggest using light pruning shears to harvest okra, as I've found snapping or knife-cutting them increases chance of getting spined. This allowed easier access to find the fruit without brushing up on so many spines. Last year, I found that after strong branching and harvest began, It was good to prune off the larger leaves which formed the initial plant before it branched, which had grown 1 ft wide leaes at that point. My plants become stump-rooted and sprad widely, up to 3 ft wide, so leave plenty of room for this crop! This year i'm planning to tip-prune the initial growing tip at about 2 ft high, to encourage uniform branching. Math will tell you that I am getting more growing points per foot of row. They will end up with many straight stalks without many branches, and fruit only at the end of the growing columnar plant.īy spacing widely, the plant will develop a branching structure with ten or maybe more fruiting points per 18" of row. ![]() I direct sow at 1seed/inch and thin to 18", but some people plant densely, even thinning to 1/6". The pre-soaking is an excellent idea, even for direct sowing. Okra doesn't start moving till temps get into the 80's, it actually enjoys the 90's! So I intercrop it into a double row of leaf lettuce, following the lettuce by a few weeks. The spines are really hair-like, but irritating to the skin. I own K7 Farm in Concord, where we grow about 5 acres of vegetables, as well as raise livestock and live an almost self sufficient (in terms of food, anyway) life.I've grown Okra, Tom, and highly recommmend clemson spineless, not spineless at all, so be sure to use care and/or if necessary wear sleeves/gloves, for it'll keep you up at night for sure. I am a mom of 9 who has depended on growing food to feed my family well since our first was born and it is a passion and skill I love to share with others. My name is Sarah Kostyu and I started The Victory Gardener to encourage more food growing in the backyards of Jackson County, MI residents. If you did not use your whole seed packet, store it in a dry, cool location and use it again the next year – okra seeds are viable 4-5 years depending on storage conditions. Okra freezes very well, in fact that is the only way we preserve it. While our climate won’t allow for it, okra can be picked for a year if pods are continuously removed. Pods that are not picked will cause the plant to slow down or stop producing. If you let the pods continue to grow they will become tough and fibrous, and inedible. Harvesting: Okra should be harvested when the pods are 2-4 inches long, generally about 5 days from flowering. When the plants are about 4 inches tall, mulch to retain water and suppress weeds. ![]() Maintenance: Okra plants will grow to a height of 2-6ft. Days to harvest are 40-70 from transplant, 80-90 days from seed. Okra needs 55-65 days of warm weather to produce. Plant the seed 1/2 – 1 inch deep, one per cell in a plug tray or if planting outdoors you will aim for a seed every 6 inches or so, once seeds have germinated, thin to one every 12 inches. This is necessary for proper root growth. If you have seeded in plug trays, you will need to “pot up” your seedlings to a larger container when they are about 2-4 inches tall. Direct seed about 4 weeks after our last frost also, to allow the soil to warm up and for our weather pattern to be on the warmer side. You can direct sow the seed here in Michigan, but you will get a better harvest by giving it a head start as a transplant, and start seed indoors about 4-6 weeks before our last frost and plan to transplant outdoors about four weeks after our last frost. Of course, with lower temperatures it will take longer, though germination will eventually happen. #Full grown okra plant manual#My MSU Training Manual tells me it will germinate from 60-105F! That’s pretty warm. Okra likes hot weather and that is no different for the soil the seed spouts in – plan for that to be at least 75F, but warmer is preferable. Seed will germinate in 5-10 days, and you can soak your seeds overnight in water to help them germinate quicker. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |