I don't think okra seedlings transplant easily, but I don't know why I think that. At any rate, we get plenty long enough summers here in mid-Missouri to direct plant the seeds, and as many as I grow, I would never be able to raise that many seedlings and transplant them anyway. I do soak the seeds overnight to give them a head start and then keep the seeded areas moist until they germinate. After that, I water if we don't get enough rain to keep them going. Or, I should say I would water, because in three years, I haven't had that problem.
Since these guys grow best in hot weather (they must be loving it this year), there's no point in planting them too early. I did just that the first year, but it was a fluke. I planted Jing Orange (a red variety) and Midget Cowhorn (a green variety) that I ordered from Baker Creek Seed Company (organic seeds of heirloom and rare varieties suitable for Missouri) the first of May. That wouldn't have normally been too early, and I didn't know the weather was going to turn so cool and wet. The seeds just rotted in the ground. I replanted Jing Orange seed I had left over on June 1, as well as some Clemson spineless (a green variety I got at Walmart), and they did okay, with the exception of a leaf disease I'll talk about more later.
I believe that is Clemson spineless on the left, and Jing Orange on the right. The date stamp on the picture is September 2, 2014. If you look closely at the plants on the right, you can see the dark red stems, leaf veins and seed pods. Don't they contrast nicely with the dark green leaves and the pale flowers? I love these red okra varieties. Too bad the reds don't stay red when cooked.
Since I preferred the red for the ornamental value (the pods turn green when you cook them), last year I tried several varieties from Baker Creek Seeds, all red: Burgundy, Bowling Red and Red Velvet. These I planted the first of May like the previous year, but the weather was much better. They germinated within a week, and I harvested good pods from the second week in July through the first week of September. Burgundy didn't germinate that well, and I replanted it the first week of June, with the same poor results.
The other problem I had the first year was that the leaves wilted and died leaf by leaf at a fairly rapid rate. I kept picking off the diseased leaves and burning them, knowing that a plant needs its leaves to grow, but figuring the wilt would have spread more quickly and killed them anyway had I left them there. I figured dying from lack of leaves at least didn't put any other plants at risk, and didn't permit the disease inoculum to build up from fallen leaves. Since I didn't know what disease they had, I couldn't take a tailored approach, so just went with general sanitation measures.
Now that I think about it, the second year I planted beets in that same plot, and they didn't do well. This year I planted cucumbers, and they're dying. It's possible there's a soil fungus in that plot and the wilt was from that rather than a leaf disease. I need to consider that for next year. Planet Natural says that crops reported as having resistance to verticillium are lettuce, peas, beans and corn. I think I'll solarize that plot next year, rather than plant it, and then plant beans or peas in it the following year.
I can't tell any difference in taste between red or green okra, or between varieties in each color, so for okra in my garden, it's just a matter of what looks good and performs well. Therefore, this year, I decided to just plant red of any variety but Burgundy, since that one didn't germinate well last year. I didn't order my okra from Baker Creek Seeds this time, though, because I wanted to try the varieties sold at Morgan County seeds. The only problem was that when I went there to get my okra seeds, they only had one red variety: Burgundy.
I bought it - and plenty of it so a poor germination rate would still result in enough pods - along with some Fife Creek Cowhorn (a green variety). I soaked my seed and took them in two different cups out to the garden where I proceeded to plant beaucoup Burgundy seeds. Then I went to another piece of ground and planted the Cowhorn. Well, I thought that's what I was doing, but when I looked at my cups after I'd finished, I still had a full cup of Cowhorn seeds and very few Burgundy ones. One thing it's always good to do when you're making a garden: pay attention.
I didn't have space left in the garden except in a small corner by the lettuce, in a spot that's shaded during the middle of the day, and another tiny spot that gets a bit more sun. They didn't grow very big in those places, and they aren't producing much. As it was anyway, the spot I had set aside for them originally, but planted with Burgundy by mistake, gets some shade during the day, and so I have a good experiment in full vs. part sun for okra - or at least for Burgundy. As you might guess, they do much better in full sun.
All those Burgundy seeds germinated just fine, so I have one of the densest okra patches you've ever seen. It's like an okra safari when I go out to pick in the full sun patch. I'm not getting much off the thin, short plants that are in partial sun. They're only about waist high, whereas the ones in full sun are now as tall as I am. I started harvesting this year the first week of July and am still getting lots and lots.
I started to wonder if refrigerating the pods toughens them. I feel like maybe it does, but I guess fresh is always best. The Glad food storage people have these tips for okra on their website:
I thought I had read something once upon a time about not leaving pods on the plant, because if it starts ripening seed, it won't produce new pods. I've been cutting off pods that get too big and tough to eat and saving them, but I'm wondering if those seeds will be any good. I'm going to start leaving some on the stalks and see if those plants stop or slow down production. Then I can leave some of the last pods of the year to set for seed and compare them to the ones I've already picked and saved.
As for insect pests, grasshoppers and Japanese beetles like okra leaves. A lot. I don't spray chemicals on my food crops, so the insects just have at it. Unless I catch them. The first year was a boon for grasshoppers. Or maybe that was last year. I've hardly seen any this year. Too darned hot, maybe. Japanese beetles are a different story. I've never seen so many as the invasion we're having this year. I did finally get some carbaryl and sprayed the roses and asparagus ferns to knock down the hordes, and I go out early every morning and knock them off the okra leaves into my kill jar (a plastic lidded container with a kleenex doused in fingernail polish), or they'd make quick work of my plants. This is what one or two can do to a leaf in a day's work:
Thanks for leaving the veins, but it's the chlorophyll the plants need, ya bums.
Till next time.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Many thanks for your interest and your comments.