shaver may turn up their noses at the thought of a slimy mouthful ofokra(Hibiscus esculentus ) , but when you raise the vegetable in your own garden , you could pick it for the best flavor and texture , when the pods are young and crisp . Okra is a tender - atmospheric condition craw , seeded only when night temperatures are systematically above 50 degree Fahrenheit . Because it hold less than two calendar month to start bring on , you may harvest the flora over a long period with proper pruning . Okra stalks can attain 8 feet marvelous . Pruning sustain the cod within reach of shorter gardeners , and persuades the stalking to form a President George W. Bush with many more productive wind .
Step 1
Disinfect the blades of your bypass pruner with menage antiseptic cleaning spray and a newspaper publisher towel , to avoid passing on any fungus or disease to your okra from the last plant you trimmed with the tool .
Step 2
Put on mitt , and wear prospicient knickers and a long - sleeved shirt . Okra plants are hatch with acantha and lilliputian hairs that cause itching and a efflorescence in some people .
Step 3
Cut the meridian of the flora back to 4 foot as they reach 6 foot . Make the baseball swing on the independent stem , just above a leaf guest . Compost the top side of the plant life .
Step 4
Apply a fertilizer with plenty of atomic number 7 and potassium to encourage regrowth and forking . A farinaceous 15 - 0 - 14 or 8 - 0 - 24 plant food worked into the soil at a charge per unit of 6 ounce per 100 course feet is appropriate . Pruning may halt growing for about two week .
Step 5
edit out the whole plant down to within 6 to 8 in of the primer , leaving eight to 10 foliage nodes , in tardy summer in area where you still have from 80 to 100 day until your first expected hoarfrost .
Step 6
Fertilize again as in Step 4 to further foliage growth and multiple branch .
Tip
harmonize to North Carolina State University Extension , the fall harvest on the now bush - style plant is often heavier than the first spring harvest .
You do n’t have to do both sets of prunings , though allow the plant to develop of course at first is recommended . If you ’ve had all the gumbo you’re able to deal after cutting it back to 4 feet , bound off the second pruning ; if your plants are exceed out at 3 to 5 feet — as is often the case in cooler mood and with some cultivar — skip the first .
Okra is at its best when the pod are young , only three to five solar day after flowering . Keep pods picked , or the plant stops producing .
Warning
Even spineless gumbo cultivar are covered with petite , antsy hairsbreadth . The scabies lasts about 30 minutes if you influence with Hibiscus esculentus without gloves or long sleeves .
