I figured I'd start the thread for the year, since I just harvested my first okra for the year. I wanted to harvest a few yesterday for that sambar, but it wasn't quite ready. It's 3½", and it almost doubled since yesterday! The only other one was the first one formed on Little Lucy, which I'm saving for seeds, since it flowered before anything else blossomed, so I didn't have to isolate it from others.
My first okra for 2023 - Star Of David, 7-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I have a question for @karstopography (or anyone else growing Star Of David): since this is somewhat spiny, do those spines disappear, upon cooking, or do I need to scrub them off, or something like that? Only spines I've ever had on okra I've grown have been on the stems.

@pepperhead212 I’ve noticed the spines when picking Star of David, but have never taken any steps to remove the spines before cooking. With okra, I tend to do a quick rinse in water and then dry them off gently and do whatever we are going to do with them which is mostly cutting lengthwise and then roasting in a hot oven with a little oil and seasoning. I’ve never felt a spine when eating so something must happen to the spines when cooked.

I knew it was star of David before I read it was star of David.

Yes, that was the first "fat okra" I had ever grown, and I have seen it in some photos here, so I knew what to expect! It is the fastest growing variety of any of them, and it's got a bunch of flowers on it already.

I'm growing burgundy okra for the first time this year, and mine has just set its first fruit. My plants aren't very big. They're being grown in a raised bed, shoehorned in with tomatoes and some other stuff. Do burgundy okra get the spines? Is this a prolific variety?

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 10:43 am I'm growing burgundy okra for the first time this year, and mine has just set its first fruit. My plants aren't very big. They're being grown in a raised bed, shoehorned in with tomatoes and some other stuff. Do burgundy okra get the spines? Is this a prolific variety?

I've grown burgandy and I can't rightly remember about the spines. I don't like spiny types so I'm going to guess burgandy didn't have any or many. Someone else will have to yay or nay this one.

On the okra front as a whole I'm having the hardest time getting my Choppee up and running this year. Never had this problem before. They'll come up and then at about 2" tall something starts chewing on the leaves. After using both bT and pyrethrin and several resowings, when the next ones came up I got out the Sevin dust and so far that's working. They're finally growing. Sevin is usually my last resort.

I have a Cajun Jewel in a pot up here at the house that I want to use for seed collection and it's doing just fine so I'll have a little okra if all else fails.

Pretty poor okra year here, at least for me. I think my squash trellis to the west is blocking a lot of afternoon sun, and of course the squash spread over to climb the okra directly. The biggest harvest to date was yesterday with about 10 pods, from about 12 feet of double row that has okra. Comparing back to the 2020 harvest, quite a discrepancy. I'm not really sure how I should have done it differently in that plot. Maybe just a hard NO to each and every squash vine that jumped rows. Still thinking I should be using cheater pots with the okra roots sitting in containers with open bottoms, to keep the roots warmer. But since I really like close row planting, it seems like a lot of pots.

I ended up pulling my two measly plants. They simply weren't producing enough to bother with and my Amish Paste tomato needed the space. Sometimes experiments work well, sometimes we learn what doesn't work. Gardening is like this.

My little okra patch. Most the production comes off the Sea Island Red. There’s two African types on the end that are semi-dwarfed and might give one pod a week. Soil is not so great in this spot that was until late last summer occupied by two oak trees. Even with the four Sea Island Red plants giving me around 6 pods a day total and maybe one or two pods a day off the Star of David type we manage to get about all the okra we care to eat fresh.

Relatively low okra production this year, probably because we have had a cooler summer - I just saw we only had 15 ninety plus days, compared to 25 average, and a lot more last year!
Okra does like heat, like hot peppers!

I won't grow Star Of David again, due to the spines, plus, it wasn't as productive as some others. I'll grow the Big Buck again - it was as productive as the Little Lucy, and when I accidentally left one to get to 6 or 7" (I usually pick them at 4 or 5"), it wasn't getting fibrous. The Hill Country Red is a fat okra, like Star Of David, but no spines (actually has some spines, but not on the body); however, it was very late, and not high germination %. It seems to be doing better in cooler temps., though it could just be coming on much later.

That okra pictured above has all the water it needs, that's for sure.
This last week was the best yet for my okra, but nothing to brag about.

okra undergoing the drying out process. I’ve got 4 types drying out, Star of David (pictured), Sea Island Red (pictured) and an African type, name escapes me, plus one I’m not clear what it is.

I am planning on sending along to the swap some seeds of the first three types listed.

Two more Sea Island Red pods split open today and I separated the seeds from the pods to finish drying.