red okra

dagrainmaka · July 16, 2011

We got a bunch of rain the other day and now my red okra plants that were around 5' tall are bent over to the ground. The stem is not cracked or broken just bent. It was not windy. Is this variety not very versatile? Them clemson spineless is fine.

delltraveller · July 16, 2011

Perhaps bending but not breaking is the survival strategy the red okra developed to deal with heavy rain. I assume that if left bent over the leaves will turn up to catch the sun and the stem will work it's way skyward again.

Does the red okra have any features that would lead you to believe that it would hold onto water? Lots of hairs, large leaves, that sort of thing? If it "grasps" water in the upper parts, the weight could bend the plant down. I haven't grown the red okra, just the burgundy okra, which is a naturally shorter plant, topping out at 3'-4'.

dagrainmaka · July 16, 2011

It is leafy all over. The plants are 4-5' tall. This variety is called red burgundy, some heirloom. The clemson spineless produces a lot more pods but the burgundy"s growing habits look as if they will produce for a longer period of time. Anyway, I staked them. I think they'll be fine, but only time will tell.

dott22 · August 14, 2011

That's interesting. I have Clemson Spineless and Red Burgundy planted also. Neither has bent over as you describe, but the Red Burgundy plants are bigger and sturdier plants.

One thing I've noticed is that while the Clemson Spineless pods seem to be more tender, the Red Burgundy has so far been staying edible at a pretty big lengths. I have had few that were 8-9 inches long and they were still good.

I also planted Star of David, but had terrible luck. All my plants died. They had a severe infestation of aphids that I sprayed with dish detergent. After that they dropped leaves and died...

July 16, 2011	#1
dagrainmaka Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Charleston, SC Posts: 15	red okra We got a bunch of rain the other day and now my red okra plants that were around 5' tall are bent over to the ground. The stem is not cracked or broken just bent. It was not windy. Is this variety not very versatile? Them clemson spineless is fine.

July 16, 2011	#2
delltraveller Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Iowa Posts: 481	Perhaps bending but not breaking is the survival strategy the red okra developed to deal with heavy rain. I assume that if left bent over the leaves will turn up to catch the sun and the stem will work it's way skyward again. Does the red okra have any features that would lead you to believe that it would hold onto water? Lots of hairs, large leaves, that sort of thing? If it "grasps" water in the upper parts, the weight could bend the plant down. I haven't grown the red okra, just the burgundy okra, which is a naturally shorter plant, topping out at 3'-4'. Last edited by delltraveller; July 16, 2011 at 02:48 PM. Reason: insert missing word

August 14, 2011	#4
dott22 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: South Carolina Posts: 19	That's interesting. I have Clemson Spineless and Red Burgundy planted also. Neither has bent over as you describe, but the Red Burgundy plants are bigger and sturdier plants. One thing I've noticed is that while the Clemson Spineless pods seem to be more tender, the Red Burgundy has so far been staying edible at a pretty big lengths. I have had few that were 8-9 inches long and they were still good. I also planted Star of David, but had terrible luck. All my plants died. They had a severe infestation of aphids that I sprayed with dish detergent. After that they dropped leaves and died...