Select your climate zone Australia - cool/mountain Australia - sub-tropical Australia - temperate Australia - tropical New Zealand - cool/mountain New Zealand - sub-tropical New Zealand - temperate What is my climate zone?

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
P	P						P	P	P	P	P

(Best months for planting Okra in Australia - sub-tropical regions)

• Harvest in 80-98 days
• Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 20°C and 35°C.
• Space plants: 35-60cm

In warm districts okra can be sown in garden beds. Raise seedlings in a similar way to capsicums - warmth is essential. Pick pods within a week of flowers opening - at about 5 - 8 cm long. Pods become tough and inedible if left too long.

Pods have a high gum content so do not appeal to everyone.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Okra

Use pods fresh or dried in soups or casseroles or as a boiled vegetable.

Your comments and tips

15 Nov 09 Dmitri (Australia - temperate climate)

Hey i have a few Okra plants growing that i have just planted out in the back yard as seedlings and they are growing strong, i have found some small flower buds on the young plants and was wondering if this is common with transplants or if i should cut the buds off and allow the young plants to focus on growing as they are still quite small. My zucchini seem to be growing flowers already and they are only small, recent transplants. Has anyone experience anything similiar?

22 Dec 09 Dimpy (Australia - temperate climate)

I planted few okra seeds with seedling mix. They didn't show any groth for a month; then all of a sudden grown for about 3cm. But when transplanted in hot weather, none of them could survive. Any tips for saving them

31 Dec 09 skip (Australia - temperate climate)

I have grown Okra for a few years and have had reasonable success. I buy the Clemson spineless seeds and have found a short pre-soaking helps germination. I have had my best success in growing seedlings in late spring (>20C) and kept away from the elements as the plants are whimps when it comes to cold. I plant out in mid-Nov (Adelaide hills). They are very slow at the beginning and you must be patient. I have found the fastest growth occurs when temps are >25C, but they hate dry hot wind. If you are willing to baby the plants with consistent watering (2-3 times/week) with liquid fertiliser (they're very heavy feeders) and get them to approx 12 inches they grow like a weed after that with little care. Pick the pods at approx 3" but discard any over 5" as they are very woody. Good luck

01 Jan 10 matt berry (Australia - temperate climate)

Have just tried growing okra in Perth and have had great success. Planted them against Nth facing wall out of direct sea breeze. I watered regularly and nursed them to about 40cm and then the took off. Now about 1.2 m. Will have first harvest next week.

02 Jan 10 Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Thanks for the tips! I've been worried about our Okra growing soooo slowly. I'll keep nurturing them and we look forward to them taking off once they are well established :-)

26 Jan 10 Kathie (Australia - tropical climate)

My concern is not knowing when to pick. Grown from seed (packet) and then transplanted, they grew to about 60 cm very quickly and have a few 'fruit' on them. I left them sit on the plant and they dried and split. I do have more on now. I found the website from the queensland dpi a bit helpful. I can't put in the website but I googled growing okra - pages from Australia.

18 Feb 10 Jayaprakash (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

(Canberra) I planted Okra seed in November and harvesting now. Growth was slow at teh beginning due to cool night temperatures this time

26 Feb 10 Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

We're harvesting Okra most days now. I clip them off the plant when they're a bit bigger than my biggest finger and store them in the fridge. Once we have about 6-7 we cook them. Our favourite is with tomatoes: saute onion, then saute Okra a few minutes, add tomatoes and cook about 10 mins, let sit 5 mins. You can add spices like cumin/cardamon too if you like.

26 Feb 10 Hoi (Australia - temperate climate)

I love okra, do you think if i start planting it now and it will last through winter? Or does it die during winter and spring back to life after that? I am not greeb thumb but trying my best... home grown vegies are the best in taste! my kids love it and so am i

07 Mar 10 bazbina (Australia - tropical climate)

i grow my okra in Brisbane qld and get the best results-in sandy soil ,i love cooking them in my favorite best way to cook okra is the Lebanese way ,which you have to deep fry first as a whole until golden brown so the gummy feel goes away,and then you saute 1 slice onion,1 clove of garlic,coriander 1/2 kg cube sliced lamb meat,cook all together until meat are golden brown...next add 2 cups of water bring it to boil for 20 minutes with lid on until meat is tender .add some of your favorite spice such as cumin ,nutmeg,white pepper and after it has been reduced add 2 table spoon of pomegranate paste or tammerin Indian paste same taste ,and 3 soup spoon of tomato paste bring to simmer for 10 minutes ..served with rice dish on the side