Another beginner friendly crop for urban farmers
Ladies Finger, Okra, Okro, Bhindi — a fruit by any other name would taste as sweet. While some people love its crunchy versatility, others baulk at the thought of this slimy delicacy making its way onto their plate. I used to belong to the latter camp, until I ‘accidentally-farmed’ it many years back. The story of my accidental farming is best saved for another day, but I’m just going to put this out there: you haven’t truly enjoyed this crop until you have had it raw — crunchy, not at all slimy and absolutely refreshing!
With that PSA, here’s how you can get started growing your own Ladies Finger Plant, even if all you have is a tiny balcony or hdb corridor!
Here’s a handy guide to get you own going in rocket time:
- Start with good seeds | Timeline: Week 0 to Week 2
Fill a CocoCup with seed starting mix about 3/4 way full, and drench it with a deep watering. Make a hole the same size as the okra seed ( I like to use my pinky finger for this), and place one okra seed in. (You can sow about 2 seeds per CocoCup.) Lightly sprinkle some seed starting mix to cover the seeds, and gently press down to ensure good seed-to-soil contact. This greatly improves germination. Place it in a sunny spot, and water daily to ensure that seed starting mix remains moist. Okra seeds generally germinate in 7 to 10 days, but can take up to 12 days if temperatures are cooler.
2. Find a sunny spot | Timeline: Week 3–5
Once the first shoots start peeking out, it is time to move the Okra seedlings to a sunny spot. This will enable the seedlings to grow up strong and healthy. Do ensure that your seeds are not germinating in the ‘shade’ of the planter edge, or they can get ‘leggy’, like the picture above. ‘Leggy-ness’ happens when the plant is not receiving enough light, so it ‘stretches’ to get more light. This is common for apartment gardens, and a simple trick you could use is to rotate the CocoCup daily so both sides get light evenly. This also enables you to prevent the plant from growing so tall in one direction it flops over.
3. Transplant Time! | Timeline: Week 6–8
After the 5th week, it is time to move your Okra seedlings to their permanent home. Okra loves a deep pot, so pick one that is at least 24 cm deep. They also grow tall and need space for their leaves to spread. To transplant, simply fill your planter with some great potting mix — Farmcity’s Veggie Mix is perfect for growing edibles in containers. Dig a hole the size of cocopot and pop your Okra seedlings, CocoCups and all into it. If you have leggy seedlings, you can make the hole a little deeper so the lower third of the stem is buried.
The CocoCups will slowly biodegrade and nourish your plants as they do! Another great thing about growing Okra in 100% biodegradable CocoCups? You don’t have to wait till they get their ‘first true leaves’ before you transplant them nor do you have to worry about ‘disturbing’ their roots during transplant!
4. Fertilize weekly with an Organic Growth Booster | Timeline: Week 6–10
After transplanting, provide your Okra seedlings with a complete and balanced dose of nutrients by adding a growth booster to your watering schedule. Farmcity’s Organic Growth Booster is made out of liquid seaweed extract, and requires only a few drops diluted in water to provide your plants with a balanced mix of all the good stuff they need to grow up strong and healthy!
During this time, it is important to also reduce watering to once every 2–3 days. Doing so will enable the plant to send out strong roots for a stronger foundation. You will begin to see the Okra plant growing big and lush leaves, as the stem thickens by the week.
5. Look out for first flowers | Timeline: Week 9–10
Okra flowers are beautiful, no surprise since they belong to the hibiscus family. There are two things you will need to do once your plants start flowering:
a) Switch to a fertilizer that is for fruiting crops
As plants begin to fruit, they require more nutrition to bear healthy fruits. At the first signs of flowers, switch to a weekly dose of Organic Liquid Compost with a complete dose of nutrients, including phosphorus and potassium, so it can grow great tasting fruits over a longer time.
b) Look out for fruits
Okras are self pollinating, and shortly after flowering, you will see fruit pods forming.
4. Harvest, Harvest, Harvest | Timeline: Week 10–20
The fruits are ready for harvest when they are finger length, and this is usually only about 3 -4 days after they are formed! After every batch of harvest, trim off lower leaves to keep the plant productive. Okra are prolific producers given the right nutrition, and will can continue bearing fruits for around 10 weeks.
Easy, peasy right? Here’s some of our favourite recipes that you can experiment with, using the fruits of your labour:
