I would be hard pressed to think of a garden vegetable that gives you production throughout the growing season that would top okra. Granted, there are different ways of looking at production quantity per square foot of garden space. Big melons like watermelons might tip the scale their direction and tomatoes can be pretty prolific, but as far as a plant that will give you harvestable food week after week, it’s hard to beat okra. And a good thing about okra is that it’s pretty easy to grow. The hardest part is keeping up with its production.

Okra is a member of the mallow family which also includes cotton and hibiscus. When you see the flowers on the okra plant, the hibiscus connection makes sense. We can trace okra’s roots back to Africa which makes sense because okra tends to thrive during our hottest periods in July and August here in Oklahoma.

Okra also tends to divide people into two camps - those who love okra and those who are not fans of okra and it seems like the people who don’t like okra end up married to those who don’t like okra, at least that’s the case in my family. To me, it’s hard to beat fresh, fried okra, but when I make it at home, I am cooking for one in this instance.

To grow okra, you’ll need a location that receives full sun. They prefer a good sandy loam, but can do well in heavier, more clay-heavy soils if they have good drainage. When planting okra, you want the soil temperatures to be in the 70s and we are either there or almost there in our area.

At our Seed to Supper Farm, we will be planting the okra seeds fairly quickly, as soon as the soil warms up. We grow our okra in rows that are covered with plastic mulch with irrigation drip tape underneath. This method not only helps keep the weeds away from the plants, but also helps to better utilize water since it is applied directly to the root zone underneath the plastic mulch.

There are a variety of strategies to fertilize the plants grown in the plastic mulch, but we use water-soluble fertilizers that are injected into the irrigation system. This way we are conserving fertilizer since it only gets delivered to the area right around the plants.

While okra will tolerate a fairly wide range of pH levels, it will do best in soils with a pH or between 6.0 and 6.8. To know your pH levels, you will need to get your soil tested and we have instruction on how to get your soil tested on our website (www.tulsamastergardeners.org). Click on Lawn and Garden Help and then Soil.

Direct seeding is the primary way to plant okra. Okra seeds should be planted at a depth or about 3/4” to 1” and about 2 feet apart in a row. You can plant them closer, but then you’ll need to thin to about one plant every two feet. At our Seed to Supper Farm, we typically plant Clemson Spineless, but you would also do fine considering Annie Oakley II (a dwarf variety), Cajun Delight, or Emerald.

Although okra can tolerate heat and drought, it will produce best if you keep it irrigated. During the growing season it will be happiest if it receives about 1.5 inches of water every 10 days. I mentioned that okra likes the heat, but it really does. At our farm, when just about every other plant was struggling during our hot months, the okra was not only surviving, but thriving. You gotta love that about a plant.

There are a variety of insects that can be a problem for okra, but we have not experienced any of that at our farm. Stink bugs and leaf footed bugs can cause damage to the pods making them bumpy or crooked, but your primary insect prevention strategy should probably only be that of keeping you okra weed free as weeds can serve as a home for these pests.

Okra is susceptible to a variety of diseases, but again, we have not experienced this at our Seed to Supper Farm. The biggest problem we have had with okra has been keeping up with harvesting all of the pods in a timely manner. This may seem like an exaggeration, and it probably is a slight exaggeration, but sometimes if feels like you can look at an okra pod and think it’s too small, turn away your gaze, look back, and it’s too big. All this to say, when okra is in its prime, it’s a fast grower. At our farm, when the okra is coming on strong, we need to pick just about every other day.

Okra is typically ready to be harvested when the pods are about 3 to 4 inches in length. Much after that and they start to toughen up. When harvesting okra, it’s best to cut them off the stems rather than risk damage from pulling. Also, long sleeves and gloves are a must because okra has small, short spines that can cause skin irritation.

In spite of that, it’s hard to beat the taste of fresh okra. Some Master Gardeners at our farm pull it off the plant and eat it raw. You do you. See you in the garden.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: Gerald Holmes, Strawberry Center, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Bugwood.org