It is a heat-loving plant ... and quite pest-proof. Try the dwarf varieties, and the greenhouse.

We had a horrendously hot summer and the Okra was thriving in AZ, so you may have to wait for global warming.

OTOH, you can probably grow green beans, and I can't.

Forget the fungicide, they need heat. By all means okra is the perfect crop for a greenhouse.

The Fruitnut

I grew them successfully in 2008 over in SW Michigan near Grand Rapids. They were started inside and transplanted much like tomatoes. They weren't very big when I put them in after the weather warmed up and they grew fine. They were in a raised bed with well drained soil so the soil was probably warmer than it would have been in the open garden. I didn't grow them this year. I think they look alot nicer than they taste :) and I will probably grow them again because they look cool. A few students recognized them (I had them in a school garden bed) and said they grew them at home, also. I should have gotten recipes from them! Clemson spineless was the variety I grew which I now hear is not the best tasting....so maybe I will like them more if I grow another variety.

Try them again using transplants. Wait until the weather is warm to set them out....like when you would plant melons. Maybe try warming the soil before planting with plastic mulch.

I think they would be good candidates for containers but have not grown them that way. Using a dark colored pot might help warm the soil more. Mine did fine even during dry spells, another trait that may be helpful when growing in containers.

I used to have success with okra every year, however I noticed that when direct seeded in mid-late May, the plants would grow about 3 feet high before they started to bloom and I wouldn't get any fruit until late Aug. to early Sept, which gave me a couple weeks of production before frost. By then, the plants were huge, maybe 4 feet tall.

One year I started some seeds in the house in mid/late April and transplanted to the garden in late May. These plants grew about 18 inches high and started blooming--same variety, same packet of seed as the year before. I had Okra starting in mid/late July through frost in Sept. Did this a couple more years with always the same result--the plants started blooming much shorter and earlier than direct seeded ones, my yields were much higher, and they didn't grow nearly as tall and wouldn't blow over in the wind.

Denninmi

I grow okra in pots because of the nematodes in the sandy soil here. I start them like I would tomatoes. Growing them in containers with a well drained mix gives you the benefit to move them around for sun or if it gets cold.

The dwarf varieties that I grow are very ornamental and tasty.

Silvia

How about growing them in low tunnels until the hottest part of the season? How long did you grow them before transplanting them outside Dennimi?

Yes, the tunnel idea is beginning to appeal to me. Johnny's is selling a conduit bending device for around $70 to make hoops out of electrical conduit. I could see using these with plastic for heat lovers, and with row cover or mesh for critter protection (like the deer that just love my sweet potato foliage).

Anyone know if this tool would be a good investment? Or, is this something that is easy enough to do without a $70 tool?

Here is a link that might be useful: Conduit bending tool at Johnny's

You can buy conduit benders cheaper at Home Depot. You could also just use the flexible PVC irrigation pipe. Drive rebar into the ground on either side of the bed, and then stick the pipe over one rebar, bend it and put the other end over the other rebar piece and you have a cheap hoop to put your plastic on.