This improves the rate of germination.Įven in November, I still raise okra seedlings undercover to protect them from fluctuating night time temperatures. Okra germinates relatively quickly, so it will only take about 10 days to two weeks until your plants reach a stage where they’re large enough to transplant outside, either in the ground or in pots.Īs okra seeds have a very hard coat, I find it helpful to soak seeds for a few hours prior to sowing.
It can be hard to find okra seedlings at the garden centre, so why not try growing okra from seed? It’s very easy, provided you sow seeds when it’s warmer. It may be possible to grow okra successfully in other parts of New Zealand, in certain parts with the help of a glasshouse. In my opinion, it is possible to grow okra successfully in Auckland and north of Auckland. On the same token, what grows well in my environment may not necessarily thrive in your own microclimate. My personal gardening experiences are limited to our urban homestead in the Auckland region, so please take this into account when considering my advice. New Zealand’s climate varies dramatically from region to region and I do have to remember that not all of my audience lives in Auckland or even New Zealand for that matter. Whether you can grow okra successfully or not does depend on where you live. This might seem very late and many people are simply too impatient to wait, but in my experience okra started any earlier almost always ends up dying at some point simply due to the temperatures being too cool. This way, the seedlings you plant out in December will be a bit more established and strong enough to survive any setbacks along the way. It’s therefore a good idea to wait until mid November to start sowing okra seeds, when temperatures are warmer. Once they’ve been hit by a sudden cold snap or exposed to consistently low temperatures, they never really recover. There is often a dramatic difference between day and night time temperatures at this time of the year and the weather can still be quite temperamental. While it’s natural to want a head start on the season, my advice is to not be in a rush to sow okra seeds and plant out seedlings. Don’t forget that okra is a subtropical vegetable that performs best in really hot weather. In my experience, okra should be started undercover in mid-November and no earlier.
I hope that with the help of information in this guide, you’ll be able to grow some of your own successfully this season. My other tip is to try growing okra in containers if like me, you don’t have luck growing okra in the ground. The main trick is to not sow okra too early in the season. It doesn’t take long to cook and is so delicious! We like having okra as an accompaniment to dahl and curries. We enjoy it cooked in a pot with a little onion, chilli and turmeric. It is also used in gumbo (a type of stew) in the southern states of the USA. It is highly prized in Asian cuisine and makes a wonderful addition to curries. Homegrown okra tastes so much more tender and fresher than imported okra, which can sometimes be quite tough, not to mention expensive. Okra is traditionally green, but it is also possible to find the seeds for burgundy and orange okra in New Zealand. While a little more challenging to grow in New Zealand’s more temperate climate, it is nonetheless possible to grow okra successfully, at least in the Auckland region and further north. The origin of okra is contested, but it comes from Africa and South East Asia. Okra (also known as Ladies’ Fingers or bhindi) is one of my favourite Indian vegetables.