Q&A for How to Grow Okra

It is normal for the lowest leaves to fall off as the plant grows. As long as the upper leaves look healthy you have nothing to worry about.

It sounds like you have insect eggs under your leaves. Take a picture and show you county extension office or another gardener to find out what they are and how to treat them.

You can buy okra seeds at your nearest nursery (or possible home improvement store) or you can take okra seeds by cutting the okra itself.

Okra is a self-fertilizer, but is also able to be pollinated by insects. Sometimes the flower does not open, yet inside it is self-pollinating and a day later or so the wilted petals fall down without opening and still the fruit grows.

Try using organic composts like well rotted cow manure and mixing it into your soil. You can also use the peels from vegetables, fruits and add crushed eggshells and any plant trimmings to the soil to enrich it.

You can fry it, bake it, or make it into soup. Just know that plain boiling may make it slimy.

Anytime up to about 5 inches in length. If it gets too mature, it will be stringy and tough. If the pod cuts easily and smoothly with a knife, it will be good. You can pick it as small as you like.

Try using something that contains neem or azadirachtin. Keep in mind that these types of products are only moderately effective.

It can easily grow to eight feet in height.

Major diseases depend on the place where you grow them. Viral infections mainly include the yellow vein mosaic virus and the leaf curl virus; fungal diseases include Fusarium, Cercospora, Phytium, Choanephora, Verticillium, Mildew, and Botrytis.

An all organic solution is to simply remove these eggs by hand when you initially spot them.

Some cultivars react to light duration. For example, when light is offered less than 10 hours a day like in autumn, flower Initiation can occur (Photoperiodism).

While this depends on climate and cultivation, it typically takes 10 - 12 weeks after planting.

2 - 3 months, depending on species.

Yes. Dig them up carefully and replant them.

Wait until they are about 4 inches long. After picking, let them sit on your counter to dry out. When slicing it carefully, turn the okra down to push the seeds. The more you wait, the more the seed germinates inside the pod, which makes growing easier the next time around.

In the axil of leaves on a small vertical stalk; after pollination, the fruit will then grow upwards.

Usually within 10 to 12 days. If the soil is warm, you have planted at the correct depth and kept it moist, they come up pretty quickly and grow quickly, as well. Also make sure seeds are not old.

July is too late to plant seeds directly outside. However, if you start the seeds inside and allow them to grow a significant root ball first, they will love going outside in July. (If the root ball is not big enough, the plants will not be able to take up enough water to tolerate the heat.) Start the seeds no later than April to plant in July. Remember, your growing season will be shorter, so especially in northern regions, you will not get as many pods. In southern regions, you will still get a good harvest.

It depends on the exact variety but most should germinate within 10-20 days.

Always soak them in water for 24 hours, as they have a tough shell.

No. They grow straight upward, and they tend to have a quite sturdy, rigid stalk. They don't even require staking.

No.

It should be about 1-3 inches, but it's okay if it's a little smaller than that.

Yes, although it's easier if you chop it up if it's really long.

As many as it produces. When they get finger length, cut the pods. Depending on the number and productivity of the plants, you may need to go out and cut pods every day or you'll end up with oversized woody pods that are tough and fibrous.

Okra does not do well in winter and generally dies, never to flower again. Plow it under and start from seed in the spring. The last time I planted okra, I harvested as long as I could, but finally chopped that plants down when they got so tall I couldn't cut the pods without a ladder.

No. Okra is a very picky plant, and it only likes real soil, with room to grow.

Yes. Two hours of sunlight is enough for an okra plant.

Let the okra fruits mature until they rot. When the fruit is brown, that is the time to gather the seeds.