When Is the Best Time to Sow Okra? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Sowing Times
Okra is a nutritious health vegetable, also known as kidney-tonifying grass, yellow okra, goat's horn bean, etc. It originated in tropical regions such as Africa, the Middle East, India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. In China, it has now been introduced and cultivated in places such as Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan and Guangdong. Now let's take a look together at when it is best to sow okra!
When is okra sown?
Yellow okra likes warmth and fears frost. The entire growth period should be arranged within the frost-free period, and the flowering and fruiting period should fall in the warm and humid season of each region. For open-field cultivation, sowing is mostly from April to June and harvesting from July to October in both the north and the south. In North China, sowing is generally from mid-to-late April to May. In cold northern regions, solar greenhouses and plastic tunnels are often used for centralized seedling raising, and the seedlings are transplanted to the field after the late spring frost has passed. From sowing to the formation of the first tender pod, okra takes about 60 days. After that, the entire harvest period lasts 60 to 70 days, and the whole growth period can reach about 120 days.
Growing conditions for okra
1. Temperature: Okra likes warmth and fears severe cold, and has strong heat tolerance. Seeds can germinate when the air temperature is 13°C and the soil temperature is around 15°C. When the monthly average temperature is below 17°C, flowering and fruiting are affected; when the night temperature is below 14°C, growth is slow, plants are short, flowering is reduced, and more flowers drop.
2. Water: Okra is drought-tolerant and moisture-tolerant, but not waterlogging-tolerant. Excessive soil moisture during the germination stage can easily induce seedling damping-off. During the fruiting stage, drought leads to poor plant growth and inferior quality, so the soil should always be kept moist.
3. Light: Okra is especially sensitive to light conditions and requires long daylight hours and sufficient light. A sunny plot should be chosen, ventilation should be improved, and reasonable close planting should be used to avoid mutual shading that affects ventilation and light penetration.
4. Soil: Okra has a wide adaptability to soil and is not particular about soil fertility. Loam or sandy loam with deep soil layers, loose and fertile texture, and good drainage is preferable. In the early growth stage, nitrogen is the main requirement, while in the middle and late stages, more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer is needed.
How to grow okra
1. Land preparation and fertilization: After the previous crop is harvested, the okra planting plot should be deep-plowed in autumn and winter in a timely manner. Before planting, the land should be prepared fine, level, loose and soft. Apply 5000 kg of decomposed farmyard manure and 20 kg of compound fertilizer per mu, then open furrows and make beds.
2. Sowing methods: In production, okra is mostly propagated by seed and can be raised as seedlings for transplanting or direct-seeded. For seedling transplanting, about 0.6 jin of seed is used per mu; for direct seeding, about 2 jin of seed is used per mu.
① Field direct seeding: Spring sowing is best for okra. Before sowing, soak the seeds for 12 hours, then place them at 25 to 30°C for germination. Sow when 60 to 70% of the seeds have “broken their mouths”. Hole sowing is preferable, with 3 plants per hole and a hole depth of 2 to 3 cm. Water first, then sow, and then cover with about 2 cm of soil.
② Seedling transplanting: In early to mid-March, raise seedlings for okra in cold frames or solar greenhouses. Soak the seeds to promote germination and sow by dibbling at a plant and row spacing of 10 cm, covering with about 2 cm of soil. After sowing, keep the seedbed soil temperature at 25°C; seedlings will emerge in 4 to 5 days. When the seedlings are 30 to 40 days old, they can be planted out.
4. Thinning and intertillage: After okra seedlings emerge, carry out timely intertillage and weeding, about once every 10 days. Before the first flower opens, intertillage should be strengthened and seedlings should be properly hardened to promote root development. Before the rows close, cultivate and earth up to prevent lodging.
5. Fertilizer and water management: During the growth period, okra requires relatively high air and soil humidity, especially during the flowering and fruiting stage, when sufficient water is needed. At the same time, on the basis of applying sufficient base fertilizer, topdress appropriately. The first topdressing is carried out after seedling emergence, applying 6 to 7 kg of urea per mu.
6. Staking and leaf removal: In summer, okra should be staked to prevent lodging. In the early growth stage, prevent excessive vegetative growth from causing spindling. In the middle and late stages, promptly remove the old leaves on each node below the harvested tender pods. For plants kept for seed pods, pinch off the growing tips in time to promote the ripening of the seed pods.
7. Timely harvesting: From sowing to when the plant is about 30 cm tall and has 7 to 9 true leaves, okra begins to flower and form pods. The formation of the first tender pod takes about 55 days. After that, the entire harvest period lasts 90 to 120 days, and the whole growth period can reach about 150 days or even longer.