Growing okra how to#
Growing okra full#

Sprinkle the fertilizer onto the top of the soil or mix some into the existing soil. In a bowl, mix the bones with an equal amount of the coffee grounds. Blend the bones until they are pulverized and broken into tiny pieces. Take your dry chicken or fish bones and put them in the blender. Radishes also make lovely companion plants and help give nutrients to each other. If they are not producing flowers, they lack nutrition.Īdd some high nitrogen and phosphorus organic fertilizer to your containers to help your plants become healthier.Īged manure is excellent if you have it, or you can create a DIY fertilizer at home.

Growing okra how to#

One concept to grasp when learning how to grow okra in a pot is that plants growing in containers lose soil nutrients faster than those grown outdoors. Mulch the top of the dirt to help the pot retain moisture. Leaf droop is typical in warmer climates, and more water might be required to prevent it. Water your okra crops in the morning while still keeping an eye on them during the day. The soil in containers dries out faster than it does in the ground. Always keep the soil evenly moist around okra. Okra plants do tolerate heat but don’t do as well in droughts. Consider planting in succession every two weeks until you reach your preferred number of plants to care for.

Growing okra full#

When sowing seeds outdoors, place them in full sun and wait until the nighttime soil temperature is regularly above 60☏. Try to start okra seeds indoors and under some grow lights about six or eight weeks before the last frost of spring. The okra planting season makes seed germination tricky because the frost date changes every year. Once the seedlings reach about two or three inches tall, identify the healthier one and cut the others down to soil level. Put at least two seeds in each pot and then set them in an area with full sun. To start growing okra in a container, plant each seed about a half-inch to one inch deep in the soil. If any of the seeds float to the top, they are no good and should be thrown out.

It also means that the okra seedlings are more successful even after germination. First, okra seeds must be softened by soaking them in room-temperature water for 24 hours. How to Grow Okra in Containersįiguring out how to plant okra in pots isn’t all that hard once you get past the first few steps. Choose a good-sized container ranging from 11 to 14 inches across and 12 to 14 inches deep. You might not need a giant pot, but larger pots often lead to more productive plants. The size of the container is just as important as the potting soil. The potting mix you choose should drain well and have a pH range between 6.0 and 7.0. Okra thrives in soil rich with plenty of organic matter. You won’t be successful growing okra in pots if you have low-quality soil. Read about growing okra in containers, and you’ll have all the knowledge required for success. Picking out your okra seeds is only the first step of learning how to grow okra in containers. Okra pods like the Clemson Spineless are popular, but dwarf varieties are ideal for learning how to grow okra at home.ĭwarf okra is much smaller and won’t take up nearly as much room as traditional cultivars. These plants are also close family members to hibiscus and cotton.Ĭhoosing an okra variety to work with depends on what your needs are. Okra produces long, edible fruiting pods and beautiful flowers. They are technically a fruit, yet almost everyone refers to them as veggies. Okra belongs to the mallow family and is called Abelmoschus esculentus.

Good job, Jack Sweeney! And even though Big Okra is no longer with us, we can celebrate its victory by enjoying some delicious okra dishes.Use this easy-to-follow and informative guide for the details that go into growing okra indoors. Then they used a 20-foot tree measuring stick and ladder to gauge the precise height of Big Okra, recording their high-altitude findings with a camera-equipped drone 'just to be sure,' Lewis said. They verified that the plant was indeed an example of plain green gumbo okra, not some gargantuan exotic species. He brought along David Baker, a fellow Tulane botanist, and environmentalist Mark Schexnayder to preside over the identification and measurement.

Lewis, who specializes in urban forestry and has tons of experience measuring tall plants, was perfect for the task. 'I knew Jack from around town,' Lewis said, 'and saw online that he was looking for help.' Tulane University research professor Josh Lewis swiftly came to his aid. Via Twitter, Sweeney solicited for a volunteer botanist to preside over Big Okra's taxonomic identification and exacting measurement. Sweeney was instructed by Guinness to seek out qualified local experts to inspect his claim.