Tips to Grow Lots of Okra: A Guide for Gardeners
What to grow TONS of Okra? I'm going to cover five tips to grow lots of okra. As you can see, our okra plants are huge, and they are producing lots of okra for us. We have about eight plants, and we are picking about four to five pounds of okra every other day. Let's get started on those tips.
Tip #1: Starting Your Okra Seeds Okra seeds might take a little bit longer to germinate, so you have to be patient. To start okra from seed, select the best seed from bigger okra plants. Add okra seeds to the tray, cover the seeds with half an inch of soil, and then water the seeds. Okra seeds like temperature above 60-degree Fahrenheit to germinate well. If it's too cold in your area, use heat mats under the trays to germinate okra seeds. Transplant the okra seedlings outside after the danger of all the frost has passed away.
Tip #2: Choose a Location That Receives Full Sun Okra loves full sun, so if you choose a location that receives 12 to 16 hours of daylight in summer, okra plants will do really well. Okra loves hot weather, so you can always grow okra in parts of the world that receive a lot of heat.
Tip #3: Fertilization Okra loves organic matter, like many other plants. But okra, in particular, loves manure. If you add commoner horseman or chicken manure into your soil before planting okra plants, okra will do much better.
Tip #4: Watering Okra loves water. You should keep the soil moist at all times. If the temperature becomes above 100-degree Fahrenheit, you should be watering okra plants every single day.
Tip #5: Picking Okra There is an art to picking okra. You always want to pick okra when it is tender. You can start picking when okra is about two and a half inches long. If you let okra grow just for about a day or two, it will become really woody and hard to eat.
You can prune some of the leaves that are growing inside of the plant to open up the plant to receive more sunlight. You can also prune the leaves that are at the bottom of the plant to reduce disease and pest pressure. Okra doesn't really attract very many pests, but there's one pest that loves okra, and that's aphids.
In conclusion, okra is a wonderful plant to grow in your garden. With these tips, you can easily grow lots of okra that is healthy and tasty. Don't forget to save the seeds from okra plants for next year's crop. Happy gardening!