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Okra question!

2K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  donray 
#1 ·
Please try not to laugh at me too much, I'm from the West coast. Okra isn't really a popular regional food here.

My question, next spring when I plant my okra, is it a good idea to pinch the tops off my plants so they are bushier with more flowering tips? I grew out a few this year and I think if the plant could stand topping I could potentially increase my harvest. Anyone done this before? I feel like I should be getting a lot more from the plants I have.

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
In all my years growing okra, my parents and grandparents growing okra, and others I know, I have never seen anyone prune okra. I read the article. Maybe it is a good idea for a commercial grower if it is efficient use of labor. There are breeds of okra that don't grow so tall. I have had 10 foot okra, and four foot okra. Pay attention to the strain of okra seed for shorter growth okra.

Honestly, maybe why we never pruned, we get way more okra than we could ever want.
 
#5 ·
In all my years growing okra, my parents and grandparents growing okra, and others I know, I have never seen anyone prune okra. I read the article. Maybe it is a good idea for a commercial grower if it is efficient use of labor. There are breeds of okra that don't grow so tall. I have had 10 foot okra, and four foot okra. Pay attention to the strain of okra seed for shorter growth okra.

Honestly, maybe why we never pruned, we get way more okra than we could ever want.
10ft okra plants?? I Don't think mine got to 3 ft, wonder if it is a climate related thing
 
#10 ·
I generally plant the heirloom burgundy - they get huge and I mean truly ginormous -- usually need to get some mechanical help at the end of the season to pull the 5" around stalks out of the ground. I'd grow okra just for the flowers, but I do love me some okra (but not fried).
 
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#12 · (Edited)
OK---I have had okra probably close 10ft with it planted on a bed. But here is what I found. I plant okra about a foot/16" apart and it gets tall if I do not cut the top out after it gets about 5ft tall. BUT I planted a 300ft row a couple years ago as a test. I used a measuring stick and planted(dropped 3 seeds per hole) some 6ft apart(no more, no less--its a test) because I have always heard close together makes it grow taller, farther apart makes it Bush. Well when the seeds sprouted I thinned to 1 plant per 6ft apart. AS the plants grew they started spreading, more suckers per plant but I did not remove them. My Plants grew about 5ft tall and wide enough they were touching the other plants on each side. I was getting up to 15 pods of a plant and cut it every other day. Wide worked. Last season I planted 3ft apart with the same seed(saved in the freezer) and they did not get as wide but taller than the 6ft apart---1 to 3 pods per plant. My plan is to go 7ft apart maybe 8ft next year---LOL.
 
#14 ·
Here in SW MI a lot of the short growing season is used up just getting it up to size. I'm not fond of okrie (as my GM called it), but yes, according to this article from a more northerly state, you can pinch it when it is two feet tall to promote branching. If you want a large quantity, you will need to plant a lot so the slow bud growth happens over many plants to give you enough to eat.


geo
 
#15 ·
I am located in Central California and I plant okra about 18" apart and 3 feet between rows. It likes heat and I grow it to about 6 feet tall. I grow Clemson spineless and Star of Jerusalem for frying , Soups and my favorite " Pickling " I have never needed to top them , They grow wide by themselves
 
#16 ·
Mine are in their second flush, and producing well now. They are producing from side shoots that grew without my pinching the tips off. The tallest one is right about 4ft high right now. I planted them 20-24" apart.

Next year I will space them out a little more and pinch the tips once or twice, nothing too extreme.
 
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