Okra is a warm-weather plant grown for its immature seed pods, which are delicious fried or cooked in soups and stews. The plants grow 3 to 5 feet tall and bear maroon centered pale yellow flowers about 2 inches across.
The flowers quickly develop into slender pointed seed pods that become 7 to 9 inches long when fully mature, but are most flavorful and tender if picked when only 2 to 3 inches long. Good varieties are Clemson Spineless. Dwarf Green Long Pod, Emerald and Louisiana Green Velvet. An 8-foot row yields about 5 pounds of pods every two weeks until frost if the pods are picked daily.
Okra grows best in soil with a pH of 6.0 to 8.0. In most of the U.S. and southern Canada, where frost is expected in winter, sow seeds indoors or in a hotbed about a month before night temperatures are expected to stay above 50′. Sow the seeds in peat pots, two seeds per pot.
Transplant seedlings started indoors two to a hill. When sowing seeds directly outdoors, plant six to eight seeds on top of each hill in a circle about 12 inches across; set the seeds about 1/2 inch deep. When the seedlings appear, cut off all but the two best. To protect seedlings from hard rain, insects and late frosts, and provide warmth to speed growth, cover them with translucent wax-paper caps available for that purpose from garden supply stores. Fertilize every two weeks, scattering about 1/3 cup of 5-10-5 fertilizer around each hill.
When the seedlings become 1 inch tall, cut off all but the strongest in each group. Fertilize twice-when the plants are 8 to 12 inches tall and again just as they begin to blossom; scatter a 12-inch band of 5-10-5 fertilizer around each plant at the rate of 5 ounces to every 10 feet of row. Okra begins to produce pods about 60 days after seeds are sown.
The pods develop very rapidly and should be picked daily within a few days after the flower petals have fallen, whether the pods are to be used or not. If pods are allowed to ripen, the plants cease to produce.
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