

It’s important to harvest okra pods every few days to encourage the plant to continue to produce throughout the growing season. An okra plant can come in different shades of green, purple, and even red.

The color can vary depending on which cultivar you’ve chosen to grow. Once the pods reach 2-3 inches long and are vibrant in color, then it’s time to harvest okra! Picking okra pods at this young stage will ensure that they remain tender. Pods will appear approximately 4-5 days after the flowers. This can benefit nearby plants that do need pollinators to produce. These flowers are self-pollinating, so they don’t require the assistance of pollinators to produce quality pods, but they still attract them all the same. If you find yourself with more okra than you can handle, you may want to begin harvesting okra flowers before they turn into pods and eat those too!Įach flower lasts for about a day on the okra plant before it begins to die back and turn into an okra pod. Okra flowers are beautiful, teacup-shaped, and resemble hibiscus flowers because they are related to hibiscus. When the plants reach maturity, they will then begin flowering. Read on as we cover all of these topics! When to Pick Okra Harvest okra pods when they are 2-3 inches long and vibrant in color.Īs mentioned above, okra plants mature in about 50-65 days. Lastly, you’ll need to know the best way to store okra to maximize your harvest.
Jing orange okra skin#
Picking okra can be a pain due to their stiff hairs that have been known to cause skin irritation.
Jing orange okra how to#
Since you’ll likely have an abundance of okra, in addition to knowing when to pick okra, you’ll also need to know how to harvest okra properly. You could also harvest okra again in the fall. At this point, you could leave some pods to fully mature and almost dry out on the plant if you wish to save seeds for the following year. If you prune okra plants back after the summer harvest slows, this will result in a second fall crop. It is possible to keep okra plants flowering and producing fruit long into the growing season. The plants can keep producing pods for at least 10-12 weeks.

Okra plants reach maturity within 50-75 days after transplant. Waiting too long can result in a tough and inedible pod.Īnother benefit of knowing when to harvest okra is that the more often that you harvest, the more your plant will produce. Since okra can be such a prolific producer, it’s important to know when to pick okra from its stems. They actually thrive in hot weather, which makes them great producers in the summer garden across warmer climates. Can you even call it gumbo without the inclusion of okra pods? The pods are a staple in southern cooking. While okra flowers are self-pollinating, the attraction of pollinators to your garden can benefit plants nearby. Okra flowers are beautiful and attract pollinators. There are many reasons to add okra plants to your garden.
