Clemson spineless Okra have sprouted indoors..now what. .:-)

I have them in a south Window with a fluorescent bulb as light backup...They are sitting on raised tray over a warming pad....

 

Okra does not like to be moved or transplanted. And until the weather warms considerably they usually just sit there. Clemson spineless is what I grow every year. You would have much better results waiting till warm weather and planting seed directly into the garden. Okra like it hot and not too wet. Its usually the last thing we plant here in NE Texas. It will do fine in June, July and August with minimal water and will continue to produce till a freeze kills it as long as you keep it picked every other day or so.

 

Okra is what you plant in the heat of the summer when other things wont grow. Like stated before they are very hard to transplant. If I were to guess you will be replanting in Late April straight into your garden. do not feel bad we all learned this way.

 

Louisianajean, I learned the hard way. I planted okra and was thrilled with the hibiscus-like flowers. Then I learned that okra likes to be planted in May or June here in Texas. My okra sat there and did nothing, while everyone else was giving bags of the stuff away. Next year I waited until I saw my neighbor planting his, put ours in, and we were giving bags of it away!
As Cajuncappy said, we learn. I just learn a bit slower than many others . . . .

 

We have a small sq ft style bed we put our long horn okra in. We plant it every year when we pull up our bush beans as a summer crop. With 40 plants they make till the first frost and we usually fill our freezer and canning cubbord and give up before they quit baring.

 

Cajuncappy, is longhorn okra the same as cowhorn okra, the type with the spines? We plant cowhorn, and I wear long sleeves and gloves to pick it (and I'm not a delicate person). It bears great, but picking it can be uncomfortable without some protection.

 

I gotta tell yall I am a very dumb gardener. Just an ole country boy who likes to watch things grow things. Our okra seeds have been ours since we started growing it. My Family who I got seeds from called them long horns. They are big pale green and not as slomy as the smaller ones typically grown here. This is them.:
We love them and usually pick them and cut them and store them in the freezer till we have a big ice bag full then smother them down and either can them or freeze them.

http://cappyandpegody.blogspot.com/2009/09/smothering-dreams.html

 

"I gotta tell yall I am a very dumb gardener. Just an ole country boy who likes to watch things grow"
Yeah, right Cajuncappy--I bet you have forgotten more gardening knowledge that most of us will ever know!
The photo does look like Cowhorn, which isn't terribly slimy, either. I don't plant much for us (just us two, and how much okra can two people eat?) but I do enjoy walking into the local food pantry with a couple of large baskets of okra and seeing it parceled out to folks. Isn't gardening fun?

 

Well there's fried okra, smothered okra, pickled okra, shrimp and okra, chicken and okra, okra gumbo in all its varieties. There is just 2 of us as well. smother down a few chicken pieces with some light seasoning take a qt bag of smothered okra and put with it serve over rice its substitute shrimp or crawfish for the chicken trust me we eat a lot of okra. It's kinda funny the way it goes by the time we plant in the summer we are out and anxiously wait for them to start growing by thanks giving we are tired picking them and processing them and pull them up often still producing and plant a winter crop.

 

I do not think there is a method of cooking okra that I do not like. Any way its prepared I love it.
Here is one for you,, prepare it like you are going to skillet fry with cornmeal, fry in cast iron skillet till lightly brown on both sides, then slice one or two garden fresh tomatoes over the top and sprinkle with Cajun spice, reduce heat and cover to let steam about 10 minutes. One of my favorites.

 

After reading the previous two posts, I think I need to plant more okra--I'm sure we'll be eating more of it!

 

Someone gave okra seeds to me...and I have cabin gardening fever here in Nebraska'''

 

Okra require a long hot growing season, so I aint sure they would make it in Nebraska. Trust me I know lots of okra recipes. When they start making this coming summer I will gladly share the info, Lord willin'