I grow my okra in an 8' x 4' raised bed and a 6' x 4' bed with extremely good, well tended soil. (compost, manure, organic) When the soil is warm, I plant the seeds right where I want the plants to be: 1 foot apart in every direction. I actually sow 2 seeds in each spot and then thin to one. I mulch the bed with straw to keep moisture in. Once the plants get to bearing size, I pick okra every other day for the rest of the season. I will get one or two pods from each plant at that point. Last year, I tried blanching the okra in my oven at 425 degrees for about seven minutes. I put several gallons in the freezer and they are still absolutely wonderful. (If you blanch them in boiling water, you get slime everywhere.) My weather is hotter than yours and doesn't get below seventy degrees even at night. Just as a note, Clemson Spineless is my least favorite variety, but that may be because of our different climates. Maybe someone in your area will chime in. (My favorite variety is Emerald, followed closely by Cowhorn.)

One other note: If you top your plants about midway through the season, they will branch out. Each growing tip will produce pods, thus multiplying your yield. You have to be very vigilant with water and fertilizer if you do this and grow them as closely as I do mine.

Thanks for the info. Okra isn't something that I would buy seeds for but since they came in a trade I figured I'd try them.

Rodney

I love Okra! I grew it for the first time last year and now I am hooked. I live in zone 6A in Southern Ohio and Okra grows well here. I averaged about 2 pods per plant every 2-3 days. Pick them when they are small (about 2 or 3 inches long) or they will be hard/woody.

I would also suggest soaking the seeds in water overnight before you plant them. The seed coat is really hard. Soaking them will help to get them germinating quickly.

Last year I grew Clemson Spineless and Jimmy T. This year I am trying Jing Orange, Stelley, and Hill Country.

My Clemson Spineless plants ranged in height from 4-6 feet tall last year. As the name implies, the plants were spineless and didn't make me itchy when I picked the Okra. The other variety I planted, Jimmy T. Okra grew up to 10 feet tall and had itchy spines. Both varieties were good and produced equally well.

Christacharlene- Thanks for the additional info. Hope your okra grows well for you this year.

Rodney

According to the production chart in book "how to grow more vegetables" by Jeavson you will need between 2-6 plants to produce 1 lb/0.45 kg of okra.

how many pods per lbs is some you have look up .

We love Clemson Spineless - out here in IL, we plant straight from seed, after last frost. The spacing seems right, we plant ~20 plants in two rows of 10. Last year we were trying to harvest weekly at our community garden plot, and we were having to toss quite a few as they were too small one weekend and overdone the next. Harvesting about once every 2-3 days would probably be best as donnabaskets suggests.

Just growing okra for the first time this year in the Toronto area. Planted a few Clemson Spineless - started in greenhouse in mid-May and transplanted into the garden second week of June. I've now picked about 10 okra per plant, and they're due to be picked again tomorrow, so that should go up to 12+ per plant tomorrow. My plants are about 5ft tall now. I think if I had started them a couple weeks earlier, I could've had even bigger yields - not that the production has come to an end, since 50F nights don't become the norm until about Oct 5-10. So even in southern Canada, you can get decent yields, which means you'd get dozens per plant in the south.

Also, my plants are spaced about 12-18 inches along a single row by my driveway. They get full morning sun, and then part shade from about 1-6pm. Our days are around 75-85F and nights are 55-75F during the main growing period (early June to late Sept). Now that my plants are at peak production, I pick them about every 2 days, and get about 3-4 pods per plant per week. I did not prune or top my plants, although 1 of the 3 plants started making a side shoot.