Between all the watering and the rain, I'd go check across the highway as they may be sprouting there! lol I know, I know... I'm not helping any...just trying to be funny. I'll close my laptop now and go away. :-)

Lynn

Paula,

I don't really know what to say except that perhaps you're not waiting long enough for them to sprout. Okra sprouts best in soil temperatures between 75 and 90 degrees, so the soil temperatures right now are in the right range. At those temps, most fresh okra seed will begin germinating in 7-12 days, assuming adequate moisture is available. Since it has been a week since you planted, you should start seeing sprouts soon.

Okra seed germinates very erratically and even though the first seedlings ought to start popping up out of the ground after 7-12 days, the rest may take up to 2 weeks longer.

I can't imagine that you of all people are planting your seed too deeply because you're a well-experienced, long-time gardener. But, just a reminder so other folks will see it....plant okra seed about 1/2 to 3/4" deep.

The May 2nd planting probably was in soil that was just on the verge of being a tiny bit too cool and then y'all had all that rainfall so Lynn could be right....your okra may be growing alongside the road, or a half-mile downhill from where you planted it or something.

I'd tell you to stop looking for sprouts because a watched pot never boils, but I know you'd ignore that advice, so I won't say it. : )

Relax and be patient. Okra is a heat lover and you'll still have a great crop even if it has been somewhat slow to sprout.

If, for any reason, the most-recently planted seed shows no signs of sprouting within 14 days of the date you seeded it, I'd soak another batch of okra seed in 110 degree water for one hour, then wrap up that seed in a damp paper towel, put it in an open zip-lock bag (you can zip it mostly shut but leave open a little bit so air can get inside...you don't want black mold) and pre-sprout the seeds inside. The minute you see growth emerging from the seeds, take them outside and plant them in the ground and water them in lightly.

Dawn

Paula,
Not sure what is going wrong. My Mother always boiled water. Let it set for a minute then poured it over her seeds. Let them soak till they cooled good. Usaually 1-3 hours and then planted. She always had good germination. I used to do that. The last few years I've just planted right out of the seed packet. I planted one 40' row Friday night. Had sprouts poking through last night. Was surprised to see them so soon. In my sand that drains well I rolled out the drip tape and soaked all Friday night. Turned it off Sat. morning. With the high temps and winds we've had I wet it again Monday afternoon. It was one of the Cowhorn varieties I'm trying this year. I think this seed was from Southern Seed Exposure. I have another 40' row to plant tonight. It will be about 4 different varieties. I won't know the % of germination for a while. But impressed with the quick germination on the first I planted. I've always had better results here when waiting for the soil to be good and warm. But yours should of been more than warm enough. My coworkers waited for me to tell them when to plant this year. I'm hoping they have good germination or my reputation will be shot. LOL. Sometimes we will never know for sure what happened. Reminds me of my pepper germination issues this year. Hope that it starts popping through soon.

Dawn glad you mentioned the depth to plant the seed. I just plant by experience. When someone asks me how deep I have to stop and think about it. I don't measure usually I just know what has worked in the past for me. I usually take the walking plow with a furrow blade on it and make a row. Then lay the seeds in and cover up with a hoe to the depth that I feel it right. Jay

I thought I was late planting Okra, but was glad I waited. It took about 6 days for mine to sprout (seeds from Atwoods). Last year, I had just about given up on them but when they started there was no stopping them. Went out of town and came home to a 9 foot okra plant at the end of season. Good luck!

Dawn - I too appreciate planting depth guide! I much prefer wisdom over packet!

Traci

Well, y'all, I just poke a hole in the soil with my finger and drop the seed into the hole, and the 1/2 to 3/4" was my best estimate of how far down to plant it. I know my dad always planted a bit more shallowly than that, but he had black gumbo clay that tended to crust over on top, which was a huge problem in and of itself.

I do think if you have sandy soil like Jay and are planting in very hot dry weather, you might have to plant deeper in order to keep it moist enough to sprout, but I'm just guessing about that since I'm not blessed with sandy loam.

Dawn

Paula,

Any progress with the okra yet? I'm hoping you've found some tiny leaves popping up to say hello!

Lynn

uhhhh...yeh.....that would be "no". However, sprouts of the bermuda that I painstakingly "thought" I had dug up are sprouting quite nicely! grrrrrr...... Not a single one has germinated.

I've ALWAYS been able to grow okra until this year, but never been able to start my own tomatoes and peppers. Maybe I traded one for the other? I just don't get it, but I am sharing the duties with DH and sometimes we disagree on watering....I'm thinking this might be a contributing factor here. I take the end of the week chores while he's working and he takes the first part while I'm off to work. Anyone have any recommendations on a watering schedule for okra (that grows as a weed in Africa??????!!!!)

I think I'm going to try Jay's Mother's method of planting. Dawn - should I wait until the 14th day to do this? That will be next Thursday (while DH is off working - bahahaha!)

At least I'm contributing to the financial stability of my local nursery, K&K, by purchasing from the existing stock of okra seeds. ha! I'm open to anyone's suggestions!

Paula

Paula

I tried something last year that I liked well enough that I tried it again this year. I made news paper tubes by cutting the news paper into strips and rolling them around a pill bottle, sliding them off and putting a staple in the tube to keep it from unrolling.

I would then put potting soil in the tubes and place the tubes in the bottom of an old roasting pan and place the pan in the sun.

My thinking was that the sun would heat the aluminum pan and transfer the heet to the potting soil.

I planted 12 little lucy okra seeds about 7 days ago, and now have 12 healthy looking plants (only two leaves now). I only had 12 tubes at the time.

I made more tubes and planted 17 more seeds last night. I now have all the bottom of the pan covered and expect it to collect less heet, which may slow germination.

I also tried a piece of sheet iron, it seemed to work also, but not as well as the aluminum pan because the tubes would fall over.

Last year I soaked the seed, this year I did not, I had good results both ways.

I plan to experiment more with this method for early planting.

Larry

Paula,

Well, you know that there's always something every year that keeps a gardener from having a perfect year, and I guess for you this year it is the okra. If you dig in the soil in the row where you planted seed, can you find the seed either rotted or just stubbornly sitting there and not sprouting? I'm starting to wonder if somthing is eating your seed.

Do you know what your soil temperature is? I ask because okra will not germinate well in soil that is much hotter than 95 degrees (not that I think your soil is 95 degrees, but you never know). The ideal soil temp for fast germination and a high germination percentage is 88 degrees, so I'd think okra planted now would sprout really fast.

I say go ahead and plant again now and don't wait. If we have a terribly hot summer, your soil temps are not going to get any cooler than they are now so you might as well try again while the soil temps are still cool enough.

Dawn

Got the seeds soaking right now....brought water to a boil and covered them. I looked last night for the seeds previously planted and I only found a couple...and they look just like they did when I put them in the ground! I can't see any evidence that anything has been in the garden, but then again, crows don't leave much evidence, do they? The Mesonet site says our ground temps are at 74 today, however, a few days ago they were at 78.

I watered the area last night so the ground is good and moist. In about an hour, I'm going back out there to plant this 3rd round. Then I'll water them in again so that today's heat will HOPEFULLY work in my favor!

Won't it be a hoot if a week from now I have to thin them out? ha!

Paula

Paula,

It definitely could be that everything will finally sprout all at once and you'll be thinning....but you know my theory that "you can never have too much....." of anything good like okra.

You know, if all the plants sprout at once, if you catch them the first or second day they emerge you can lift them and move them to an 'empty' spot if you have one. I like thinning-by-transplanting because I hate to pull and discard a plant that wants to grow. I currently have five flats of flowers on my patio that were volunteer seedlings I potted up instead of just yanking them and tossing them. Among them are Texas hummingbird sage, verbena bonariensis, Laura Bush pink and Laura Bush purple petunias (with native petunia genetics, they go wild in the heat unlike most petunias), four o'clocks and a few other things. Little by little I'm finding space for them all. I probably could have potted up 50 flats of them but knew I didn't have space for that many. I've also pulled up a gazillion datura seedlings and tossed them. They're attempting to take over the entire garden. Why is it that some things sprout so easily, while others (like your okra) are just plain difficult?

Dawn

I don't have a problem with germination, my problem is they germinate and get the first two little leaves then something comes along and eats those leaves and the stem just sits there rotting. :(

I have yet to actually see anything munching on them.

back in already because "it's toooo darn hot". After closer examination, I did find many of the previous planting from May 28. Some had even become a lighter green and looked like they were a bit puffy. I also found 2 that had germinated (I think since last nite).

Larry - I like that newspaper method. If this attempt should happen to fail....I'll try that so that I can at least have one row of okra. And I may do that to begin with next year!

Dawn - how wonderful that you've got so many volunteers!!! My datura's haven't come back like they normally do so thanks to all who left me some at the Spring Fling! I did have a LOT of red petunias come up this year in pots on the back deck....none of where they were planted last year. Guess the seeds dropped and they liked their new home. I'm leaving them but transplanting a few.

Boomer - I too have something munching on all dozen or so that came up from the first planting. One poor little thing looks like lace. I could pull out the Sevin, but would a BT spray work? I think I may try it before any of the other sprout (how's that for positive thinking?) I'll let you know if it works. Since we live so close, perhaps it's a common problem.

Whew....no more gardening for me until this evening. I've got to cool off so I can tackle my housework. Stay cool everyone!

Paula

Paula,
Glad a few more are showing up. Mine started rather quickly but have a few bare spots. I will add seeds in those spots. If the seeds from the first planting sprout I will just will remove one.

I'm heading off to haul a lot to the landfill and then go get a load of hay from the field. You are welcome to ride along. LOL. Only supposed to be 96 today. Hope everyone can stay cool. I'm used to the heat to some degree and know how to pace myself. Jay

Paula,

Bt will work if the pest is a caterpiller. Otherwise, Spinosad is a good multipurpose organic insecticide. It is hard to know what will work on it if you haven't identified what the pest is. I am seeing many, tiny new grasshoppers, ranging in length from about 1/4" to 1/2" or a little larger, and they are eating everything in sight. I have put out Spinosad twice now and hope it is working, although it probably is too early to tell if it is.

Jay,

We did our best to stay cool, but it was hot. Being at the fire station for a fundraiser all day, we were stuck in the heat to a certain degree. Of course, the firefighters found a way to cool us off, by opening bottles of cold drinking water and splashing us with the water. That was very cold! (It did feel kind of good though.)

It only hit 97 here today so we were pretty lucky because we didn't hit 100 after all.

There was an ice truck fire yesterday, and a wheat combine fire and a vehicle fire today. It is odd to have that many vehicle fires here in a 24-hour period, so we're blaming that, the high snake activity and all the wilted plants on the heat, fairly or not.

Dawn

so is it too late to try the germination in the pans with the newspaper rolls? I'm SO frustrated! I know it's got to be something silly I'm doing..or not doing. Only about maybe 4 plants since last Saturday...grrr.

Anyone want to offer to come plant for me then give me explicit instructions on watering????? I think I'd better start cutting newspaper strips.....

Paula

Paula,
I planted my okra on Mon. May 24th and to my great surprise had plants coming up on Fri. the 28th, just 4 days! One thing different I did this year was to put the seed in the freezer for a couple of hours before I planted. The moisture in the seed expands when frozen,cracking the hard seed cover allowing it to germinate easier. Also this year when I plant, I dig a furrow with the hoe, sprinkle the seeds in the row and firm the seeds into the soil with the back of the hoe before covering the row then firm the whole row with the garden rake then keep the soil moist until germination.

boomer sooner,
My problem with okra is usually the same thing you have. It's cottontail rabbits. I take chicken wire and make a quansit hut type cover for the row until the plants reach about a foot tall, by then I think the plant gets tough and the rabbits leave them alone.

Also, I swear by the Farmers Almanac when planting.
Here's the link, hope this helps and Happy Gardening!
http://www.farmersalmanac.com/calendar/gardening/

Paula,

I planted mine on the 5th and had some of it up on the 8th, half of it up by the 9th and the rest up by the 10th.

I heated up water to 110 degrees in the microwave, poured it over the seeds, soaked them for 1 hour and then planted them. I planted Cowhorn 22 and Little Lucy, and have other varieties to plant once I harvest either onions or potatoes and have room for more.

I'm starting to think something is wrong with your seed or something is eating your seed.

Dawn

My problem is a little different. The okra I planted in the news paper tubes did well. I planted the first 12 in the flower bed, of the 17 seed I planted on the 4th, 16 came up and are looking good. I will leave them in the tubes to gain a little size and then plant them in the flower bed.

I planted Sunglow corn on the 2nd and got a good stand except in two spots. I measured the spot for ea seed so I know where each plant should be. When I dug down to check the seed I found a small tunnel about an inch in dia. I also found a hole going down into my potato row about the same size. I am thinking that what ever eat my corn seed may be eating my potatoes.

I have also found dung that looked like it may have come from a rat, a 2 or 3 lb. rat.---What kind of crap is going on? Should I go ahead and kiss my corn goodbye?

Next to the potatoes I have Tender Treat corn that is above 7' tall, tasseling and forming silk. I may be paranoid but I think something is caseing out my garden.

Larry

Dawn - the first seed I plant was saved from last year (Clemson) or ordered from BakerCreek. The second batch was left over packaged for last year (Clemson). The 3rd planting was newly purchased seed from K&K. I've tried the soaking overnite method on the first two planting and the third I boiled the water, let it soak for an hour then planted. The few that have come up 5 Cowhorn, 3 Clemson and 5 burgundy from the first planting. I've seen maybe 6 new sprouts of Clemson from the 3rd planting. I tried planting about 1/2 inch and covering, then just a little ditch with no dirt covering, this last time I just sprinkled dirt on top of the seeds (maybe 1/4 inch dusting). It's the dangedest thing I've ever seen. My whole problem may be that I didn't plant by the Almanac. Thanks for that reminder! I always have in previous years and this year I guess I just lost track of what day it was!

Like any good addict, I still have a stash of seeds! I'm going to try Larry's method of starting them in the aluminum pans. SOMEONE left me quite a few at the Spring Fling! heheh! I've got several of those 8-sectioned peat pot things left over too. Maybe I can get enough started that way to fill in the gaps in the rows so I'll have at least 2 rows!

Paula

Just checked and accordinly....I need to adjust my timing belt! This weekend is bad to plant, so I'll do it Monday and Tuesday evening....

Thanks again for that reminder. I've added it to my "favorites"!!!

Paula

Well, here it is the 19th....and out of the last attempt at direct sowing....I've counted 8 newly emerging plants. They only have 2 leaves but hey, I'll take it! They are all the Clemson, none of the burgundy came up again. I'm wondering if part of my problem is the soil. Most that have emerged are all in one area.

Last week I followed Dawn's suggestion of 110 degree water (hint - use the microwave and a thermomter. It's super fast that way.) My water was a bit hotter, but it cooled when poured over the seeds. After an hour or so, I planted them in little peat pots or one kind or another, 2 seeds per "hole". I've placed them in an aluminum pan (as slowpokegarnder suggested) on my back deck and have been keeping them watered daily. I can see little green leaves unfolding on 6 of the 27 Clemson and 3 of the 16 burgundy!!!!! Larry - that aluminum pan must be the trick! This seed was also what I rec'd last fall in the Seed Swap. I should have used it first but I was saving it for something "special"! Guess this is it!

I'm not thinking that I'll have so much it will fill my freezer, but I might have enough make a few jars of pickles for Christmas gifts.

Paula

Paula,

Glad you got some sprouts. Okra is really erratic and I never give up on it until 2 or 3 weeks after I sowed it. Often I'll get a big flush of early germinators, and then just 1 or 2 here or there for days and days. I bet a week from now you can tell us you have even more sprouts.

Every year there is some 'thing' in the garden that drives a person nuts. This year, for you, it is the okra. Next year it will be something else. It is always something.

Dawn