Well I usually soak my seed first to help germanation. After transplant keep it well watered and hope for a hot summer. once it starts producing check it EVERY day and keep it picked. Okra grows fast.

I started my okra (Clemson Spineless) in cell packs in regular potting soil under fluorescent lights. No soaking. I had 100% germination in 3 days (from 1999 seed)& they're now out in my cold frame hardening off.

Slotted row cover helps with additional heat.

Jay's comments covered the gamut of info. (I find okra plants one of the toughest to clear out, too.) Just don't bother to plant too early in the greenhouse. If the plants get checked because of cool temps when they go outside, you'll lose the GH advantage. If you use black plastic mulch, you can also direct seed -- loves the heat!

My traditional plant dates are mid May in GH and field plant end of first week June. That's for central PA which isn't prime okra country, but works for me.

Jay hit the nail on the head. I use lots of clothing when I pick. A trick I learned from some of the farm labor in our area. Take an old long sleeve shirt and cut the sleeves off. Then sow an elastic bank on either side. Then when you pick, wear a long sleeve and gloves, then add these sleeve pieces you made to cover down over the glove and up over the sleeve. This way all the itch and spines and itch stay out.
I usually water 1/2 my stand and pick the other 1/2 each day. Then alternate the opposite day.

Our red velvet orka plants are 4 feet tall, and temps have be in the high 80s and low 90s. Everyone else has been harvesting for weeks, and we have not even had a bloom! The location is in full sun. The plants do have some damage from Japanese beetles, but not a lot. What could be going on?

Thanks,
Patty

Most has been said above. What I did that helped me was to grow the Okra with enough space in between that the other row would not touch you when you are picking so that you skin has the least amount of contact. I wear a full brim hat and long sleeves to keep the itching down, but last year I bought some gloves from Seeds of Change that were for roses and such that had an extension of leather that went up over your forearm. What a difference this made. Be sure you buy the biiger sizes because their large is actually like a medium.

mine is really tall this year, and I'm short, so I kind of duck underneath it when picking. I can see what needs picking that way, and also, I'm under the spines. They love hot weather. so here in Indiana I don't even try to plant out until June 1st. I usually direct plant. I have too many good money makers to tie up my greenhouse to plant okra plants. (tomatoes)

I bought two Cajun Delight okra seedlings and--oops--put them into one 17" or 18" pot together. They are around a foot tall from the soil surface now and starting to make buds. Do I dare dig up the weaker looking one and put it into another pot at this stage? Thanks for any help you can give me!

Sounds like the weaker one will end up dying, but if you disturb the roots of the other one, it might die also. I don't think I would chance it. I know my okras got the 5-6' tall stage before the frost killed them.

Marla

rather than digging it up you could just cut it at soil level.

If you are growing okra for the first time, try 'Heavy Hitter' it's a new strain of the Clemson Spineless variety, being developed by OSU, that is extra hardy, and withstands much harsher conditions than its parent Clemson Spineless. During the severe drought of 2011 with temperatures in Northeast Oklahoma reaching 115 degrees, a trial of 'Heavy Hitter'made its debut, by growing over 60 branches and producing nearly 300 tender pods of okra. 'Heavy Hitter' consistently grew trunks that were over 2" inches in Diameter (8" inches in Circumference) with massively strong root systems. While other crops failed from heat or fell prey to grasshopper depredation, 'Heavy Hitter' prevailed as the hardiest plant in the trial. (This was the same new strain of okra that was presented by the ODA, at the Moore Norman Technology Center as the heaviest producing crop of 2011, hailing from Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Where can I find Heavy Hitter okra seeds? Anyone have some to sell or trade? New to the site but avid gardner for 20 years.

I have searched high and low but I can't find Heavy Hitter okra seeds anywhere. Does anybody have a source for this seed? All the posts I see are from 2012 and it seems like the subject has been completely dropped.

August 9, 2015

I have a beautiful, fresh crop, of Heavy Hitter okra that I am growing exclusively for seed this year!

You can see photos, if you visit my photo bucket at:

s1381.photobucket.com/user/fourteenmilecreek/library/Heavy%20Hitter%20Okra%2044%20Days%20Old?sort=3&page=1

Just copy this link and paste it in your Google search box, then press enter.

Once there, you will see my 44 day old Heavy Hitter plants. At 44 days from germination they are already branching wildly, even though they will not be blooming until day 55.

If they are branching this heavily already, imagine what they will look like at full maturity a month from now.

Glad you're having such success. I tried it here in north Ga. and it was a flop.

This was posted by muscadineman45(7) on August 24th, 2015 on a different garden web okra thread....

muscadineman45(7)

I had no success with HH last year but planted a few seeds this year and the plants have branches all over them. I have no idea what changed.

Like Bookmark August 24, 2015 at 11:52AM

I've picked and sold nearly 200 pounds of fresh Heavy Hitter Okra for pickling, and frying, this year, and still have plenty of seed okra left on the stalks for harvest after killing frost.

The double row 150' feet long, that I planted on July 4th is just now beginning to put on young pods, so I should have a second crop after this first crop plays out. The days in September are a lot shorter than they were in June, so I don't know exactly what to expect from the July planting.