Ready, set, okra!

[cheshirekat]

First time planting okra and the okra are about six inches - when do we eat? Should the okra come off the plant easily with a gentle tug? Should I wait for the stem to turn colors or something? I bought the plant from the local nursery on a whim. I think I can already taste them with some tomatoes and peppers.

I think I'll plant two okra next year. Maybe even start some from seed.

[Roger]

Okra is far tastier when the pod is immature and tender. It should be relatively soft when squeezed, firm but not yet hard and fiberous. As a general estimate, around 5 to 6 inches or less is better than larger. When they begin getting thicker and "woodier" in texture, the seeds in the pod become far more prominent and the flesh begins getting far too fiberous/chewy and pulpy. You can pick them as small as you like; for instance I like the 3 inch pods for pickling and for some dishes.

Pods won't come off the plant easy. You'll need a sharp knife or a sharp pair of scissors to cut the stem. It's fairly tough.

If you really want to grow some from seed next year, save one or two very large, very thick ones, and leave the whole pod in some dry spot for several weeks. The pod will dry, and later you can crumble/split the dried pod to get the seeds inside it. There are quite a bit of seeds inside each pod, and they store well if kept bone dry. They look like small, brown colored peppercorns. I've found okra grows far better from seed.

A practice or habit I picked up from my elders, is when you harvest a pod, cut the leaves off below it - they will die anyway when the pod matures or is removed, and removing them will encourage additional upward growth and development.

[hendi_alex]

Novice seed savers need to remember that seeds from named hybrids will not have the characteristics of that named plant. Many times they will give perfectly fine results but sometime the offspring are inferior in some way.

[cheshirekat]

So the couple that are nearly six inches will be kind of tough? Should I save those to dry for seeds? Or should I avoid getting seeds from the tough ones?

Thanks for your help.