Topic: Growing Okra in UK

[coogan]

Hi growers,

Any one tried growing Okra from seed over here. I bought some seed called Pure luck f1 - appropriately named - with out much. Tried it last year, germinated easy but would not grow on big enough to produce fruit. Gagging for a garden fresh Bhindi bhaji. Help needed.

Bon jovi

[rhodriharris]

Don't grow ocra but have a lot of growing experience in growing plants especially soil, i have grown jalapenos, tomatoes, beans, herbs for few years now.
Ocra can grow from four to six feet tall, bout two to three feet wide. Takes about three months from planting to first crop and although the ocra vegetable itself can grow up to a foot in length it is best picked when only a few inches long as it is still tender and not woody.
How are you starting the seeds of? Will it be an indoor grow, indoor to start with then outdoor or outside in the garden the whole way? I don't recomend planting outdoors till your sure the wether is going to be nice say april/may as the plant loves the sun and heat and hates cold frosts or chills and i don't think that our wether is good enough yet.  Reccomend you start them indoors a month early and plant out in spring. Soak the seeds for a day and then pop them into a peat pellet or small flower pot filled with seedling soil, i use West seedling soil from the indoor part of the gardening section of either BnQ or homebase.  Use a mall pot to allow the soil to dry inbetween waterings.  Plant about double the amount you finally want and when young kill of the weak ones.
Says that ocra plants have spines as well so somthing to take into consideration if planting out in the garden, although pure luck f1 say there not spinless but this could just be the ocra and not the rest of the plant.  F1 means first generation and will grow fast and strong having good genetics.
 Please let me know how it's going and i will try to answer any questions you got.

[coogan]

Hi Rhrodiharris,

Thanks for the marvelously informative reply concerning okra and the advice on how to try and grow it in the UK. Unfortunately after taking on board your points and other info that I have researched I have decided not to grow it as I was hoping to grow it outside. To get a decent growth rate it appears that you need to grow it inside and even then the crop per area will be pretty scarce. I have got a 12 x 5 foot "polywagon" type construction in my allotment but this is going to be packed full again with chilli pepper, sweet pepper, tomato, aubergine, cucumber and melon plants - no room for big okra plants I'm afraid. Oh well back to tesco for flappy out of date bhindi.

Bon growth