Planting Okra

Planting Okra

Okra is primarily a hot-weather tropicalat can be grown in both northern7n gardens. A tall-growing annualI gumbo, it grows best in the southern states, where two crops of it can be grow near.

The spring okra crop can besoon as all danger of frost hasmost mild regions, plant the fallrune 1 to July 1. The fruits can berom 55 to 65 days after seeding,)n the variety. Always plant seedarch has warmed, since okra is aer plant and will not stand cool soil.

Planting: Okra thrives in any well-11:: garden soil in full sunlight. If the soil is wet, the seed tend to rot, so good is necessary. Okra is hard to trans-a very northern places the seed can be started in cold frames or hotbeds and-to the garden with caution.

Although okra will do well in any kindii rough preparation of the soil isot. These woody plants can take on all the food given them. Because okragrows rapidly, nitrogen is particularly needed.Poultry manure is splendid material for okrabeds. Since it is very strong, only about one-tenth as much chicken manure as other animalmanures can be used. Compost, leaf mold,peat moss, and wood ashes can be used to ad-vantage to improve poor soil in the garden.Peat moss and leaf mold are usually acid and aslight amount of lime should be used alongwith either of these two materials. These soilbuilders should be plowed under in the winterwell before the planting time, or in a smallhome garden they can be spaded under in theearly spring.

The rows should be at least three to fivefeet apart. The stalks are bushy and can be-come quite large when well fertilized and dur-ing rainy seasons. Scatter the seed in drillsor plant loosely in hills and cover to a depthof one to two inches, according to the compact-ness of the soil. The seed should be separatedthree or four inches to allow space for the de-velopment of the stems. If weather is warm,germination should take place within a fewdays. But if there is a heavy rainfall in themeanwhile, the soil should be lightly cultivatedbetween the rows and the crust broken up overthe seed by means of a garden rake. This issuggested where the soil contains clay or isheavy. Sandy loam will probably not need anysuch treatment, as the seed will come throughwhen the soil has been drained or the water hasbeen evaporated by the action of the sun. Afterplants become established, thin them to stand15 inches apart and mulch lightly.

Insects: The okra plant is not subjectto attack from many insects, but the bollwormmay be a problem. It bores into the pods andthus injures them. The stinkbug also attacks the pods, piercing them and extracting thejuices. Since damage from the latter occurslate in the season, the loss is very little. Blisterbeetles and leaf beetles often feed upon thefoliage of okra but these pests do little harmto the pod and scarcely influence the productionof pods at all. Handpicking usually keeps theseinsects well under control.

Harvesting: For continuous production,pods should be gathered every day when theyare one to four inches long, depending on the

Okra pods should be harvested daily when theyare one to four inches long and still soft.

variety. They should still be soft andshould be only half grown if pods areeaten. If it is necessary to keep the poc24 hours, they should be spread out ir.place and slightly moistened. They shalegiven ventilation because they becomeinrwhen kept in closed crates or boxes

Varieties: The Dwarf Green Lan;,_matures in 50 days, as does the Perkin 111moth, sometimes called Green Long Po: rIPVelvet takes 60 days to mature but fns Itrstandard okra for many markets in theThe Clemson Spineless okra mature 760 days and has uniform dark green long pods. Emerald is another var.planted.

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