I’m trying some okra this year. It’s not well known in Australia though I did manage to source 4 varieties, very pleasing. Molokhia, a relative, does ok here so I’m hoping okra will too. Others in my area that have tried it say it often doesn’t set pods because it’s often too cool then frost sets in. The forecast for this season suggests a longish, hot summer so fingers crossed.
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The Annie Oakley II okra from EFN has done very well here. I probably harvested at least a hundred pounds and it’s still producing. This is fairly normal for okra here. There were a few plants that had extremely large leaves & shorter fat pods but I cut out those early on. Overall considering it has had zero supplemental water, and no other inputs I think it would definitely be a good starting point for a okra landrace.
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I saw that one but didn’t order. I am tempted to get it. However, I ordered 2 packs of ultracross okra which is about 50 seeds I think. I believe that will be enough play for next season in combination with these saved seeds. If I had more land, I would really enjoy doing entire rows of dozens of varieties.
It’s like a blazing furnace out here. If I were to put a stethoscope to the garden, I would hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth.
This is the current condition of most of my okra plants. Although, there are few exceptions.
My papaw gave me some vining okra seeds. I have done zero research on it and just planted as soon as I got them about maybe 2 months ago. It looks like they put up flowers in the afternoon. These images were taken a few minutes ago. It is sunset time here.
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Luffa acutangula, belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae, climbing okra is actually kin to the common cucumber. Common name is because of its superficial resemblance to garden okra.
Depending on soil quality and related growing conditions, this plant’s runners can reach 6′ to 20′ in length, quickly covering its support with a lush canopy of large, dark green leaves. (In warm, moist regions it’s sometimes necessary to control the vine’s rampant growth by pinching off the tips of runners.)
Climbing okra requires the same growing conditions as melons and cucumbers: soil that’s rich in organic matter, and plenty of sun. The plants are very sensitive to cold and won’t thrive in wet, chilly soil. You can start climbing okra seeds outdoors when nighttime temperatures are staying above 55°F.
Starts to flower before maturity. Blooms are 2 1/2″ to 3 1/2″ in diameter and resemble butter yellow thunbergia flowers. The blossoms open late in the afternoon and remain open all night. At twilight the flowers almost seem to glow, exuding a sweet fragrance that’s irresistible to moths and late-shift bees. Male and female blooms grow on separate stalks and are easy to tell apart: The males stand out from the foliage on elongated stalks; female flowers hug the stems and are backed by immature fruit.
If picked while still young and tender, vine okra has a sweet, delicate taste and can be used like summer squash. For boiling, stir-frying, or steaming, select fruit that are no more than 6″ to 7″ long. You can then peel them—or simply slice off the ridges, as the Chinese do.
For batter-frying, choose pods that are 10″ to 12″ long and 2″ or so in diameter. Cut the fruit into 1/4″-thick slices, leaving the peel on to hold the tender morsels together as they cook. Dip the slices in a milk-egg mixture, then in flour or cornmeal before frying.
Harvest the fruit of the climbing okra regularly, even if you have to give some of your crop away. Like other cucurbits, this vining plant should not be allowed to set seed — that is, produce mature fruit — until fall. (Once it does, the vine begins to wither.) Come September, you can allow a few pods to ripen on the vine for next year’s seed supply.
May be susceptible to cucumber diseases. Will attract spotted cucumber beetles.
Edit: Ironically very few videos on this that I could find. This older one has bad audio but if you turn up the volume you can hear the presenter.
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Thanks Peter. The information you provided has me excited about this plant. My papaw was given these seeds and asked me to grow them out and return some seeds to him.
I could tell by the seed shape and flower situation that it seemed more like squash. I was actually weary about planting them near by moschata because I was worried some rare chance to cross pollinate.
Another observation is they love to climb and are way better climbers than anything else I am growing. They climb naturally without assist. They seem to be happier when holding on to something. I have only 1 vine on the ground and it’s not producing flowers. The successful ones have found something to climb so that tells me something.
If they produce seeds successfully, I think I will grow some of these out next year too.
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It was really humid when I took this picture earlier this morning. I sampled a raw little one this morning. It tastes like walnut with a lighter texture. It tasted good but I don’t know what compounds might be in the raw fruit so I spit it out.
I had only read about tasting for bitterness as a sign it had any toxicity. They wrote it is edible raw like a cucumber usually up to 6 inch length. With the larger sized ones starting to getting fibrous.
Edit, found a link to raw use.
Nice! Thanks
Also, the sponges are going to be a bonus.
Very cool okra related article @chrismith82
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Hello Beautiful Okra Shepherds,
I’m a zone 5er with a serious case of zone denial. I’ve been working on artichokes for 3 years and though non have over wintered for me outdoors yet, I’m getting good crops by bringing the dormant roots inside for the winter.
I’ve been following this thread and hoping to find a sampling of your okra grexes in this year’s GTS offerings. I just checked and okra is not on the list of 2024 crops.
I was wondering if any of you would be willing to do a direct exchange with me of their mixed okra seed. I have plenty to offer such as early tomato and cucumber grexes and lots of other seeds. I also have a good number of perennial edibles as rootlets or seeds.
I’ve done a couple of swaps with GTS people already and they have been fabulous!
My email is sallweis@gmail.com
Cheers!
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This year I planted 30 spaces in my garden with okra. I planted 15 spaces with okra seed from last year. 8 were planted with what I called “everything else,” a mix of everything except for Zambia Landrace II. 7 were Zambia Landrace II from last year (that plant was far above all the other okra plants that year). In the other 15 I planted a mix of Bamyeh Falastinia, Never Again, Ken’s, Zambia Landrace I, Heavy Hitter, Burgundy, Puerto Rico Everblush, and Catawba Freeman.
Of the area of “everything else,” Cajun Jewel or possibly segregates of Baby Bubba grew about 1 ½’ tall and produced 4-6 pods each. One plant grew about 3’ tall with fat, strangely shaped pods and didn’t resemble anything I have ever grown before. I am guessing it is a cross from something that grew last year. It produced 6 pods. The Zambia Landrace II were all pretty similar but not as strong as their parent was last year. The one strange plant was the tallest of my saved seed plants and as productive as the dwarf plants, with huge leaves. I left 2 pods on it for seed and that didn’t seem to stunt that plant like it did the others.
At first I thought Ken’s didn’t germinate, so I moved extra seedlings of Catawba Freeman into those spaces. Later when Ken’s came up it was late in the season so I cut them off with scissors. The transplanted Catawba Freeman did about the same as the one that hadn’t been transplanted. Only one Heavy Hitter came up, late in the summer, and made a single pod. Never Again and Catawba Freeman were all small single pod plants. Zambia Landrace I grew to about 3’ and produced a single pod with other flowers that never developed. Burgundy struggled and made tiny partial pods before dying. Puerto Rico Everblush died without producing any pods. I had three plants of Bamyeh Falastinia. One grew to 2’ and never produced a pod. The other two plants grew to about 3 ½’ and produced 2 pods from one plant and 3 on another. Leaving multiple pods on them for seed didn’t seem to stunt them. The pods were long and thin without any ribs. This pod shape is one of my breeding goals, so I was happy to have somewhat already adapted plants producing the pods I want. Along with the smooth pod genetics now in my grex the number of healthy plants this year was 11 compared to 1 last year, so I am happy with my progress.
I had similar progress with my okra this year. I am also paying attention like you to these details. Anyway, I think I will divide my okra beds into production beds and seed beds.
I want to a plant a reliable “finished” variety for food. This way, I can go out and harvest as much as I like without worrying about seed harvest. I can baby these plants more for better yield.
For the seed bed, I will plant a wide variety of strains. I can yell at the plants. I can refuse to work the soil beforehand, not give it any water. Then I can save seed from the earliest and most fruit bearing plants.
Because I want to keep my cake and will eat it too.
I think I have a much smaller area in which to grow my okra plants. So I am growing my food crop and seed crop at the same time in the same place. At this time progress on my landrace is my top priority and I’m willing to sacrifice most of my food crop now to get closer to my goal sooner.
Thought maybe you might be interested in this upcoming learning session: Join us for an inspiring webinar featuring Chris Smith (executive director of the Utopian Seed Project and author of The Whole Okra), Ekow Stone (Farmer-Researcher and on-farm okra breeder at It’s Giving Farm), and Stephanie Wang (cookbook author and farmer at Le Rizen) as they dive into the incredible diversity of okra.
From seed sourcing to growing, harvesting, marketing, as well as breeding, this session will explore how to cultivate high-quality okra while celebrating its cultural and culinary significance. Whether you’re a farmer, gardener, or food enthusiast, you’ll gain practical insights to incorporate this versatile crop into your market or home garden. Digging Deep: Celebrating Okra from Seed to Plate - EFAO
Will there be a recording of this? I won’t be able to watch it live.
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There will be a recording sent out to those who signed up. And if you have particular questions, please let me know and I’d be happy to ask them to the presenters if there is time!
Don’t feel obligated to ask any questions on my behalf but I have been wondering for a couple of years now if there could be any possibility of okra plants that die back from frost but resprout from their roots the next spring. Like other trees do that are killed by frost.
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