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Growing Okra
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Okra
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Okra
Okra is traditionally a southern U.S. plant that thrives in warm weather. Here’s how to grow okra plants in your own garden!
Okra is easy to grow and use and looks great throughout the growing season due to its beautiful flowers. It’s also rich in vitamin A and low in calories, which makes it a great addition to your diet.
Planting
- You can start okra seeds indoors in peat pots under full light 3 to 4 weeks before the last spring frost date.
- You can also start okra directly in your garden 3 to 4 weeks before the last spring frost date as long as you cover the plants with a cold frame or grow tunnel until the weather warms up. Make sure that the covering is 2 to 3 feet tall so that the plants have room to grow.
- If you do not start your okra plants early, wait until there is stable warm weather. You can plant okra in the garden when the soil has warmed to 65° to 70°F.
- Plant okra in fertile, well-drained soil in full light about ½ to 1 inch deep and 12 to 18 inches apart. You can soak the seeds overnight in tepid water to help speed up germination.
- If you are planting okra transplants, be sure to space them 1 to 2 feet apart to give them ample room to grow.
- Okra plants are tall, so be sure to space out the rows 3 to 4 feet apart.
Care
- Eliminate weeds when the plants are young, then mulch heavily to prevent more weeds from growing. Apply a layer of mulch 4 to 8 inches high. You should also side-dress the plants with 10-10-10, aged manure, or rich compost (½ pound per 25 feet of row). You could also apply a balanced liquid fertilizer monthly. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.
- When the seedlings are about 3 inches tall, thin the plants so that they are 10 to 18 inches apart.
- Keep the plants well watered throughout the summer months; 1 inch of water per week is ideal, but use more if you are in a hot, arid region.
- After the first harvest, remove the lower leaves to help speed up production.
Pests/Diseases
- Aphids
- Corn earworms
- Stinkbugs
- Fusarium wilt
Harvest/Storage
- The first harvest will be ready about 2 months after planting.
- Harvest the okra when it’s about 2 to 3 inches long. Harvest it every other day.
- Cut the stem just above the cap with a knife; if the stem is too hard to cut, the pod is probably too old and should be tossed.
- Wear gloves and long sleeves when cutting the okra because most varieties are covered with tiny spines that will irritate your skin, unless you have a spineless variety. Do not worry: this irritation will not happen when you eat them.
- To store okra, put the uncut and uncooked pods into freezer bags and keep them in the freezer. You can then prepare the okra any way you like throughout the winter months.
- You can also can okra to have it throughout the winter.
Recommended Varieties
- ‘Annie Oakley’, which takes 52 days to mature and has spineless pods. It grows to about 5 feet tall.
- ‘Park’s Candelabra Branching’, which is a base-branching okra plant. This type of branching makes picking easy.
- ‘Louisiana Green Velvet’ is good for big areas; it is vigorous and its plants grow to be 6 feet tall. It is also smooth and spineless.
Wit & Wisdom
Okra is sometimes called “lady’s fingers” thanks to the vegetable’s long, slender shape.
Recipes
Cooking Notes
Okra can be consumed in a number of ways—raw, pickled, stir-fried—you name it!
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Reader Comments
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Want to spray okra with Epsom salt solution.
What would be the proper ratio and would it be beneficial.
Epsom Salts solution ratio
Jeff, use about 1 tablespoon Epsom salts to 1 gallon of water.
Epsom salt spray
What is the purpose of the epsom salt spray?
Epsom Salt Spray
Epsom salts are made of magnesium and sulfur, which are beneficial nutrients required by plants. Magnesium especially helps with photosynthesis, and therefore fruit production. Measured spraying of certain plants with an epsom salt solution is a good way to ensure that the plants are getting enough magnesium to produce healthy fruits.
okra
how do you apply salt water to okra and not kill plants?
Okra
Can okra be planted in elevated cedar planter?
okra in containers
It sure can! Make sure your planter is at least 12 to 14 inches deep. Also, it is best to choose a dwarf variety, such as “Baby Bubba” or “Cajun Jewel.” Dwarf types won’t grow higher than 5 feet. (Other okra varieties can grow as much as 8 feet or more, which would be difficult in an elevated container.)
Okra
my okra has come up but the plants are spindly and falling over, any suggestions?
okra- companion and combative vegetable plant
I live in East Texas and would like to know what are companion vegetable plants and combative vegetable plants to plant along side okra. No one haves okra on their companion/combative plant charts. Could you please, please help me out with the answer. Thank you
can I intercrop okra with cucumber?
Am in Ghana and want to go into okra production but I want to find out if I can grow okra and cucumber itercroppeped? if yes how can I go about it.
Okra
Between my daughter and myself we had so much Okra did not know what to do with it. Started become creative with Okra as well as learning how to can it. Finally my neighbors found out I had so much and I started giving it away. My goodness in the grocery store it's $3.48 lb.
Can one process okra or green
Can one process okra or green beans for better conservation instead of leaving the produce to rot?
Why didn't My Okra harvested yet?
I planted the okra in late may early june, i have yet to see any of the okra harvest, i have nice leaves but not an okra in sight, is something wrong?
Okra production
Best guess is too much nitrogen in the fertilizer.
Get a super bloom liquid fertilizer to promote flowering
Okra
Mine is just now starting to come in. I had the same problem. It took longer than the 52 weeks to maturity.
okra leaves
my okra plant has holes in their leaves!!!! what is causing this??? I need help!!!!!!! what should I do????
Holes in Okra Leaves
Insect pests are the most likely culprits. Please see our pest pages for more information.
I want to plant okro. I am from Cameroon leaving in Douala
When is the appropriate time to start. What are the things needed for the cultivation of okro.
How to plant okra
If you are serious about the production okra you can contact me me for guides.am an agriculture student in the university of buea third year and am always in Douala from time to time, contact 670382172
growing okra
am from Botswana and I have planted okra but it has been affected by a hash coldness, the leaves, flowers and fruits were affected but the stems are still okay now I wanted to find out if there is still anything that can be done.
okro
pls I wanted to know how much I can make planting okro on an a
cre of land
okra
Cleaning up the bed to start planting next week, realized some of what I was pulling up was baby okra plants. Reseeded itself from last year (our first try for okra). The question is, will these plants produce, or should we start over? These were from starters we got at the garden center. Wichita Kansas
okra seedlings
You can certainly try some of them out. How they turn out will depend on whether the cultivar you obtained from the garden center was a hybrid or not. If it was a hybrid, the next generation of seeds may not produce plants that have the same characteristics of the parent. Traits that might be good or bad may show. Also, even if the parent plants were not hybrids (such as open-pollinated or heirloom varieties), if they were not isolated from other varieties of okra by about 500 to 1600 feet, then they may have cross-pollinated, thereby creating offspring of varying traits. To be on the safe side, to know that you will have plants bred for quality harvest and vigor, you might want to start over. But if you’d like to experiment, then you can try keeping some of those seedlings and see how they develop.
Can i mix cuncum and okra together? please I'm in Nigeria.
Sir/ma; I want to mix cucumber and okra together. What is the spacing and is it visible in this month march also I need it to be simplified. Thank you
I've had a bumper crop this
I've had a bumper crop this year and now am letting the top pods grow large and hopefully dry for seeds, but it will freeze here soon. Do I leave the plants & pods out in the garden (will the freeze matter) or should I cut the plants and hang inside to let the pods finish drying?
It’s best if you can let the
It’s best if you can let the pods mature and dry on the plant while it is in the garden. However, severe freezes can damage the pods. If you expect one, you might want to cut the plant and hang it inside to dry (perhaps put a paper bag over it, so if the pods do shatter, you won’t lose the seeds). Good luck!
Pennsylvania Okra grower
I grew Crimson Okra and it has done exceeding well. The plants themselves are 4+ feet tall and the fruit of the plants are beautiful. The flowers are picture perfect. I did save some seeds for next year so I can enjoy this plant again.
okra
Is okra perenial or do you have to pull up the stalks and replant every year.
okra - perennial or annual?
Okra is a perennial in the tropics, but in temperate areas, it is grown as an annual. In the United States and Canada, it is most commonly grown as an annual.
Most A esculentus okra is an annual
In the tropics A esculentus is an annual. I live in Panama. A esculentus variety's that are usually grown in the USA, only live about 3 months here in Panama. There is a local Panamanian A esculentus variety that does live longer than this. However, it is still an annual. African okra, or A Caillei, is another species of okra that is usually grown in the tropics. This species of okra can be grown as a perrenial in the tropics. Daylength does have an affect on A esculentus even though the internet does say it is Daylength neutral. Short daylength Shortens the havest period and the lifespan of most A esculentus variety's I have tried. There is a lot of disinformation going around about okra in the US because USA gardeners do not have experience growing okra in Africa or the tropics.
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