Rejuvenating Okra: Producing Two Crops from One Planting - Alabama Cooperative Extension System (2024)

FAQs

Rejuvenating Okra: Producing Two Crops from One Planting - Alabama Cooperative Extension System? ›

Cut back plants using a mower or pruning shears, leaving 6 to 12 inches of each plant above the ground. Refertilize with 15-0-14, 8-0-24, or 13-0-44 to encourage regrowth and development of side branches. By following these guidelines, your fall yield of okra often will exceed that of your spring crops.

Plants like kale, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, and other brassica family members plant well with okra. They add nutrients to the soil which helps improve the health of your okra plants.

Some of okra's best garden companions are plants that, like okra, need plenty of water. This includes cucumbers, melons, eggplant, and sweet or hot peppers. Different types of plants will require different types of companion plants.

Encouraging a Continuous Harvest

Pruning okra isn't just a one-and-done deal; it's a season-long commitment. To keep those pods coming, you'll want to prune every few weeks. This encourages new growth and, in turn, more fruit.

In warm climates where summer lasts a long time, standard-sized plants can get 6 to 8 feet tall. In this case, many people prune in late summer by cutting back about one-third of the plants' tops. Buds along the main stem then grow and produce a late crop. Okra is a "cut-and-come-again" vegetable.

Okra is very susceptible to nematodes, and nematode populations may boom at the end of the season. Avoid growing squash, sweet potatoes, or solanaceous crops (like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant) after okra (and vice versa), as they may be plagued by nematodes from the previous year.

Because of okra's height, some of the best companion plants for okra include lettuce. The tall plant shades the greens from the hot sun. Another plant that can benefit from the shade of your okra is melons (which also have the added benefit of attracting pollinators to your plants).

Jambalaya offers high yields of very uniform, shiny, dark green pods. The Emerald Okra is a beautifully bright early maturing okra variety!

Results obtained revealed that the application of recycled garden solid waste compost, poultry manure and cow dung improved the soil physical condition, particularly, structure and drainage, increased nutrient and organic matter levels and enhanced the yield components of okra plants.

Why is okra hard to grow? ›

Okra is not difficult to grow, but it does require warm weather to thrive. It will not grow well during cool, wet, cloudy summers. Any well drained soil with a pH of 6 to 8 will support okra. Water only to keep the soil from drying out.

The Epsom salt is made from magnesium, two ingredients that the Okra can benefit from. However, caution is needed when it comes to applying Epsom salt to Okra, as it can easily kill Okra plants when applied more. Use general fertilizer instead of applying Epsom salt for Okra.

In ideal conditions, okra plants can produce up to more than 30-pods per plant. A common mistake is harvesting the pods when they are six to eight inches long, when most will have a woody taste.

Okra will self-pollinate and it will also cross-pollinate if bees are in the garden. I hope to add a beehive to the Grocery Row Gardens this spring which should REALLY mix these okras all up.

Another plant you can grow alongside okra is tomatoes. When companion planted, tomatoes act as a trap crop, luring stink bugs away from okra plants. Beyond fruits and vegetables to pair with okra plants, flowers can be a great option to increase pollination in the area.

If you have a good amount of space, beans, corn, and squash can be planted in linear plots and used for crop rotation. From left to right, plant squash, then corn, then beans. Each subsequent season, move each crop to the right, so the corn and squash can benefit from the nitrogen-fixed soil the beans grew in.