I’m doing some container gardening this year and am going to start playing with okra. I love okra. But it’s difficult to grow in the Northwest. It originated in Africa and likes lots of heat and humidity – so not a good fit for the Great Pacific Northwet. But, as an experiment I’m going to try three varieties this year.
The Clemson spineless is probably the most popular in the PNW, so I will attempt to grow it, hoping for a more reliable yield than the other experiments.
Perkin’s Long Pod Okra is a long shot. In more friendly climes it will grow to six feet in height and produce tender pods up to six inches long. Interestingly, this variety was developed by a commercial farmer in New Jersey. We’ll see what it can do in the PNW with some TLC.
Louisiana 16 Inch Long Pod Okra is a monster (in Louisiana), growing to over seven feet and producing monster pods up to sixteen inches. This is a hail Mary, but we’ll see what happens.
I don’t imagine the big plants will work easily in a container, so I have some ideas about how to stabilize them. Open to any suggestions.
Both the monster okra plants are from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, a Missouri company. Baker Creek carries one of the largest selections of seeds from the 19th century, including many Asian and European varieties. The company has become a tool to promote and preserve our agricultural and culinary heritage. Our company and seeds have been featured in The New York Times, The Associated Press, Oprah Magazine, Martha Stewart, The Wall Street Journal, and many others. Gardeners can request a free color catalog. Our catalogs now distribute to over 700,000 gardeners nationally. Click on the images to see the pages featuring these plants.
Update
Territorial Seed has a 30 day okra! It’s a hybrid called Candle Fire (shown), but I’m going to try it.
They also have great information on planting everything; here is their guide for okra.