A cousin is in town visiting from Mississippi. She was telling us about her veggie garden. The topic of okra came up and she was telling about a practice I never heard of, and neither did her brother (the one that has the garden here with my hubby). Anyhow... she says they take a stick and "beat" some of the leaves off the okra plant and that it really increases production. Anybody else heard of this or anything similar?
I have never heard of this and would like to know if this is true, also. I planted okra this year and harvested a little bit so far, but if I can get a little more I would be delighted (maybe). i would be afraid I would beat it a little too hard and end up with nothing. I don't do anything by half, you know.
I just found and read 3 research articles on growing okra and none of them recommended beating the leaves off to increase production. If taking the leaves off would help, I don't see why they couldn't just be cut off instead possibly hurting the plant by beating it. You can top the plant at certain stages of growth to encourage a bushier, wider plant rather than a tall thin one. One mentioned cutting back on using nitrogen during crop production to avoid encouraging more foliage when you want the plant to produce flowers and okra.
I have heard that you should 'tap' tomato plants that are grown in greenhouses to make sure there is good pollination. I do that to my chilli plants that are in the conservatory and you can see the pollen drifting around so I guess beating the okra plants has the same effect.
I have never heard of beating Okra plants. I plant okra very often and they always gave me lots of okras. Ahh, this came to my mind about a mango tree which we had when I was a kid and staying in the village. The tree did not bear any fruits for us and someone told my mum that we should wack it with a broom to make it bear fruits. Guess what we did, we wack it every now and then, it did not bear any fruit. We moved out of there after about 15 years and the tree was almost 10 years old at that time. The next year after we moved the tree bore the new owner tons of fuits.
I have about 4-5 plants. Really wondering if I will like these veggies. Can anyone tell me a real easy recipe??? Wanna make mom cook them. This way I can convince her to grow okra next year.
I truly, truly recommend topping okra plants. Unless you plant a dwarf variety, you will need a step ladder to harvest later in the season. Cal, okra is best when cooked with tomatoes and onions. Cut the top and little pointed end off the okra, cut it into 1/2" rounds, put it in a hot skillet with a little oil (in Texas we use bacon grease, but we use bacon grease to lube cars, too) and when it starts to sizzle, add a can of chopped tomatoes and as much onion as you want. Salt and pepper lightly, and cook on low until the okra is soft and most of the liquid is absorbed. I throw a little fresh basil in just before serving, but basil is optional.
And you can't forget fried okra. Just slice it up, soak in a bit of milk seasoned with salt, pepper and I like to add a bit of red pepper. Dredge in half and half mix of corn meal and flour and fry until golden brown. And a tip for any okra recipe... just add a bit of vinegar (or tomatoes) to get rid of the "slime".
I think that when people see okra shed some of its leaves during hot months and the pods are exposed, they just think it makes more because they can see it. It will naturally shed leaves to conserve water. And to tell the truth,, I don`t want mine to make any more than it does now. I have to pick it every other day as it is.
