Red Okra Seeds 20g

Red okra is the showpiece of the okra patch: it carries deep burgundy pods set against red-tinged stems and leaf veins, making it as decorative as it is edible. The pods are tender and mild when picked young, perfect for stews, frying or roasting, and they make a striking raw garnish or ornamental display. Like all okra the rich red colour softens to green once the pods are cooked, but in the garden and on the plate the vivid colour sets this variety apart from ordinary green okra.

Planting

Okra is a warm-season vegetable with no frost tolerance, so wait until all danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed. Aim for a soil temperature of at least 18 C measured at 10 cm depth for an even stand; sowing into soil that has reached 21 C gives the most reliable results. The ideal range for germination is 21-35 C, and seedlings usually emerge within about 7 to 14 days, fastest when the soil is toward 27-32 C. Soaking the seed in water for several hours or overnight softens the hard seed coat and speeds sprouting. Sow about 2 cm deep, spacing seeds along the row and later thinning established plants to roughly 45-60 cm apart, with rows about 0.9-1.8 m apart. Choose a full-sun position; aligning rows east to west helps the plants capture maximum light. In Egypt the timing follows soil warmth rather than the calendar: in the Nile Delta and Lower Egypt direct-sow mainly from mid-March through April once spring soil has warmed, with a feasible second sowing in May-June and a long picking season through the warm Delta summer. In the warmer Upper Egypt soil warms sooner, so sowing can begin from late February into March and continue through spring. Avoid the cool, damp November-February period, when low soil temperatures cause poor, uneven germination and seedling-death problems.

Fertilizing

Work a complete fertilizer into the bed before planting, around 1 kg of 10-10-10 per 9 m2, and avoid excess nitrogen, which drives leafy growth at the expense of flowers and pods. Once the plants are established and bearing, side-dress them: begin when plants are about 15-20 cm tall and feed again two to three weeks later. As an alternative feeding schedule, side-dress with calcium nitrate (15.5-0-0) at roughly 3-4 weeks and again at 6-8 weeks after planting, that is, as the plants begin flowering and fruiting.

Care

Keep the soil evenly moist down to about 15 cm. During dry spells give a deep soaking of roughly 2.5-4 cm of water once every 7 to 10 days, and in the hot, arid south of Egypt water more generously than this baseline. Water at ground level beneath the foliage so leaves and pods stay dry, and in Upper Egypt water early so the foliage dries off. Watch for common pests such as flea beetles, Japanese beetles, blister beetles and cucumber beetles, worms (mainly corn earworm), stink bugs and aphids. The most serious problems are root-decay and root-rot diseases that kill young seedlings, along with root-knot nematode, Southern stem blight, and Fusarium and Verticillium wilt; pod rot can also occur. Pods are ready about 60-70 days after planting; harvest them young and tender at about 5-8 cm long, clipping at 8-10 cm. Pick at least every two days because pods grow very fast, and never let them mature on the plant or they turn tough and fibrous and production slows.