Okra seed Abelmoschus esculentus

LATIN NAME: Abelmoschus esculentus

COMMON NAME: Okra

The okra is the tall green pod of the warm kitchen, and the large, yellow flowers open in the leaf axils above the lobed leaves. The tall, upright, annual plant carries the large, palmately lobed, green leaves and the large, yellow flowers with the dark-red or crimson centres in the leaf axils through the warm season, one of the fine, bold sights of the warm kitchen garden, to be followed by the long, ridged, green pods. The pods have a long record as the fine, tender vegetable of the warm tables, and the plant is a fine, generous presence of the kitchen garden. It is a plant of the open, sunny, deep, moist, rich ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The okra is a historic subject of the plant science, and the ridged pods keep showing up in the work on the warm-season vegetables. The way the long, ridged pods form along the tall stems has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the warm-season vegetables, the mallow family and the members of the mallow family. The palmately lobed leaves and the tall habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the okra is a regular subject of the work on the tall green pods of the warm world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The okra is a fine, bold plant of the warm kitchen garden. The long, ridged, green pods have a long record as the fine, tender vegetable of the warm tables, the young pods picked young and simmered into the gumbos, the stews and the fried dishes of the warm kitchens, while the large, yellow flowers with the dark-red or crimson centres open through the warm season, one of the fine, bold sights of the garden. The plant is one of the fine choices for the warm kitchen garden, the pot and the study collection, and it has been written up in the culinary and the agricultural papers for the tender pods and the generous ways. It is a fine, bold plant of the open, sunny, deep, moist, rich garden.

Keep the young plants in the warm, bright spot, and the pods will come through the warm season.

To grow the okra from seed, sow the large, round seeds a couple of centimetres down in a pot of fine, gritty soil, keep the pot in a warm, bright spot and water gently, then set the young plants out after the last frosts. The seedlings push through within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun, the warmth and the deep, moist, rich ground, the tall green pods will come through the warm season.

First introduced in 1939 this variety is now the most popular on the market. Vigorous 1m/4ft high plants produce straight spineless pods that are excellent in soups, stews and relishes. Pods are most tender when 7cm/3" long or less. 48-60 days.