Mini Okra?? ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) This is the second time that I got an okra plant which is really small in size. The last one was as productive as a regular okra plant and it grows to a height of no more than 3feet. The leaves are much smaller than the regular and the fruits I would say is normal in size. At first I thought that the soil was not fertile enough and now it is happening again. This plant was the best from a group of 4 seedlings and the seeds were sown directly into the bed. It is currently slightly more than a foot tall. Old Regular Okra ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) The seeds come from a regular 8feet tall okra plants and the seeds that I planted from the same pod before this plant is just as regular as it can be. I always have an okra plant in my mini farm because we like eating them. Is there a way to know which seedling or seed is going to be regular or mini? :?:
I would save that okra for seed and see what comes up from it. Since the size would be genetic no way you or I can tell how big it will get but you might, by keeping the seed from the small one, narrow it down a bit.
How many hours of sun does it get? They need a minimum of 6 to grow properly. Isn't a pod that size very tough? The Clemson Spineless I have grown needs to be picked before getting more than about 4 inches long or they become tough as boot leather...and cooking doesn't soften them.
Thanks Rockhound, would it be nice if the were naturally labelled .... big, regular and small Thanks Mart, that is a great idea, I'll do that! That would be great!! err...you mean a single plant is it? Yes a single plant is enough to feed a family of five minus one who doesn't like okra. When the plant is matured, I can get about 2 pods a day and is enough for a dish once a week. Now the children are all away, only the 2 old ones, we can have it twice a week or we just give them away. Thanks Toni, it gets about 7 hours of sun on the average daily. The local regular okra here is normally 6 inches or more and anything shorter is like second grade. A Japanese friend of mine once commented that in Japan is the other way round, the best size is just 3 inches because they cook them whole. I have had almost a foot long one before and they are still tender. I noticed that that okra pods grow very fast once it starts to grow. When I first planted okra, I usually wait a day or two after it stops growing to harvest and nobody including me wants to eat them because it is woody and fibrous Nowadays I harvest them the moment they stop growing and they are always nice and tender. In the morning an okra pod which is about 2~3 inches can be about 6~8 inches by evening and that is when I harvest them. I think to do this successfully one have to develop a feel for it and I sometimes still get one or two that is tough as boot leather
I try to catch them at 3 to 3 and a half inches long so they're tender, BUT when the weather is hot and there's plenty of rain, they can grow from "too small" in the morning to "too big" in the evening.
