Sounds like you've got a good head start on our 2016 Heavy Hitter Okra plant photo contest. Give 'em plenty of TLC, We'll be picking a winner in late October. 1st prize will be $50.00

What contest? Tell me about it. What are the requirements?

A few folks have requested that we post photos of Heavy Hitter Okra plants grown by someone else besides me, and also grown somewhere else, besides on my farm. They also requested that photos of the tender size okra pods be included in those photos, so they would have a better idea of what the pods are like.

After reading these requests, we decided the best way to address this would be to put on a Heavy Hitter Okra Plant Photo Contest in 2016. So, we just decided to do it!

1st prize will be $50.00

2nd prize will be $25.00

3rd prize will be $10.00

We will announce the winners in late October, so everyone has ample time to submit their photos, as we have growers in Panama, India, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, Canada, Mexico, Africa, Australia, and about 30 of the lower 48 States.

So, if you think you have a decent specimen this season, be sure to submit photos to: heavyhitterokra@gmail.com

It would be awesome if someone out there bested my old record!

Happy gardening,

Ron

Great! This is my first year but I will be looking forward to everyone's photos.

Ron, I received my seeds on Friday and will be planting soon. Thanks for the prompt shipping. Carol

Making people happy is our job. Enjoy the gardening season,

Ron

The first seeds I planted are now about 2 inches tall and some of the leaves are turning yellow. What am I doing wrong?

Too much water? Too cold at night? or maybe too much fertilizer?

Any of those 3 things are detrimental to their development, especially early on.

We got 8-9 inches of rain just after they started peeping thru the soil and it has been in the 40s at night here. Maybe they will come around.

Thanks for the reply.

I've been so busy planting a garden, I've fallen behind on my writing. I've got 8 rows of Heavy Hitter okra planted so far. My rows are 180' feet long. I have a big family. Hopefully, I'll have enough to supply the kinfolks with okra, and still have a decent seed increase. I enjoy family at harvest time. It's always a good feeling to see everyone so happy out in the garden.

Is your family the entire state of Oklahoma? I saved seeds last year, and have 6 rows about 20 feet long, and have shared with numerous people. I am crossing my fingers for a good season!

I was. So happy to get some seeds at the spring fling. I hope I didn't mess up planting them. Since it turned so cold.

Actually, my family does take up quite a bit of the State of Oklahoma. My Mom was one of thirteen children. She passed away in January of 1978, when I was 16 years old. After she passed away, my Dad remarried; Dad's second wife (My step-Mom) had 8 brothers and sisters. I am the oldest of 5 kids, and have 4 kids of my own, plus grand kids. Our family reunions are pretty good sized. I gave away 200 pounds of okra last year, before I ever harvested any for myself. I pickled 50 pints for the grand kids, and that's long gone. We are fortunate to be part of such a close knit and large family. They come in handy when it's hay bailing season, or time to butcher 100 chickens, or time to harvest a big garden. We really have enjoyed a good life working along side one another. Lots of great memories, and quite a few knots on the head from wrestling so many cousins.

No wonder you grow so much okra, Ron. That's a huge family. I'm starting to think that the State of Oklahoma might not be big enough to hold all of y'all.

kfrinkle, At least you'll have some rows of vegetables you don't have to scout for SVBs.

Kim, It is unfortunate the weather turned back so cool after the okra was planted, but we ought to be warming up again by the weekend. I tend to plant okra late so that it doesn't get hit by late cold weather. Perhaps it is because we are in the Red River Valley, but some years we get some surprisingly cold nights in May and I usually wait for those cold nights to pass before I plant the real hot weather lovers like okra, sweet potatoes, winter squash and melons.

I am ready for the sunshine, heat and warmth to return even though the cool weather has been a somewhat welcome change. I just think the cool weather has held on long enough now, and I'd like to at least see some sunshine.

Dawn

Ya'll have no idea how much I'm craving okra. All I see is this thread! hahaha

I have some okra in the deep freeze, but you aren't here so that won't do you much good. : )

Stoppp it! hahaha

I had so much okra last year, I used the dead pods to mulch my fruit trees; they make good sponges to retain water around new plantings. This year, I'm planting about twice as much... Last year, I planted in succession about every 2 weeks, from April 8th, until July 4th. My best success was from the seeds I planted on June 2nd. It was right at the end of the cold, rainy weather of May, and right before the hot, dry of July. It really took off when the nights got warm, because the ground was so wet from May rains. Looks like this year might be a repeat? I've already got 8 rows of okra planted. Each row is 180' feet long. After it warms up quite a bit, I'm planning on planting 4 or 5 more rows. When it's time to pull the stalks next Winter, I'll hate myself, but that happens every year, so I'm used to it.

I don't have rows, so I plant them everywhere! Thanks for reminding me of the succession plantings, but okra keeps on producing doesn't it? I've only grown Heavy Hitter.

It will grow anywhere.
In any soil.
Even if the plant is stunted.
It keeps on producing regular-sized okra.

LOVE

Where do you get seed for Heavy Hitter?

Contact Ron (above) and he'll get ya some if he still has. :)

To nowyousedum (7a) this is Ron. Today is May 19th. I still have Heavy Hitter Okra seed right now, but that could change any day. Contact me by email: heavyhitterokra@gmail.com

My HH okra was planted 4-28 and we have been eating it for 2 weeks now.

That is great news. I planted my HH in mid May, and cut my first mess of okra last evening.

Mine just sat there doing nothing for that month of cool weather, but now with the heat it is taking off. The plants are still quiet small but I could see pods setting on a couple of plants today. I am north of Grove. I think I only have 9 or 10 plants, so may have to add a few more.

I can't wait to plant okra next year!! I love okra and the plants are just beautiful. The only year I planted them, I planted about 8 plants and I got an abundance for 3 of us who eat it as fried okra. But, I would love to pickle some so I'll add this to my wish list for next year, just gotta get me some seed!! :)

Today is July 2, 2016 --- It's not too late to plant okra right now. I've planted okra behind the July 4th potato harvest and still had a nice Fall crop. I've also planted okra behind the July corn harvest and had a good Fall crop. Clemson Spineless Okra, and my Heavy Hitter Okra, both harvest 55 days after seed germination. If you planted today, July 2nd, you'd harvest about a week after Labor Day.

Same thing with straight neck Yellow Summer Squash; they are both good Fall crops.

I'm germinating more okra seeds tonight to plant on Monday morning, July 4th, because of deer predation. I'll plant okra and Summer squash in my skips along my rows of tomatoes, okra, and in the holes where I've harvested cabbage heads, or onions. This will give me fresh produce until frost gets them in October.

There's always something special about a Fall crop. It just gives you a feeling of being blessed with abundance in the time of year when other crops are waning.

I have little black ants eating my okra leaves. There are no aphids, so they are not there for aphids. They are also going for the blooms. I have tried a lot of different solutions but they come back the next day. Any ideas?

Green Sassafras leaves are a deterrent to ants, Boil the leaves in water like you do spinach, let it cool, then wrap a leaf around each okra plant at the base. Pour the cooled water around the base of each plant. Or, you can bait them away from the okra by putting something out that they like better.

Thanks. Since I don't have access to Sassafras, I will put some corn syrup mixed with Borax out for them.

ssurbangardener,

I have had ants in my okra every year I have grown it. I have never noticed and yield problems.

Is there any obvious damage to the leaves?

Johnny

Yes, they are sucking the sap from the stalk and making the leaves lacy.

I have never planted HH okra but ants are almost always on the okra but never harmed it.

The corn syrup and borax sounds very promising.

You can probably bait ants off of your okra the same way I baited coons off my corn.

Last year, I was losing about 50 ears of green sweet corn per night to a couple of coons,

Nothing I used as bait would lure them into my live traps. I tried canned tuna, fried chicken, canned cat food, both canned, and dried dog food, and even marshmallows; but nothing I had was more enticing to them than fresh sweet corn... half the time, I'd end up trapping every stray Tom cat in my part of the County. One night, I even caught two cats in one live trap at once; but no coons.

Then, an old timer told me about a new trick to play on those coons. Here's what he said to do:

"Take you a jar of marshmallow spread, a jar of creamy peanut butter, a squeeze bottle of chocolate ice cream topping, and melt them all together in a gallon size steel can. (Just about any restaurant will give you a free gallon size steel can, if you ask around back). Then, take a paint brush and slather the entire floor, and the whole trip lever of a live trap with it. Stake it down right in the middle of a corn row, so the coons can't turn it over, then when they come by, they will smell that, and get so busy licking the sticky off that cage that the lead coon will forget what he's doing and walk right in there to lick off the trip lever."

He was right!

Those three ingredients are my new secret weapon for the rest of my days.

Let us know how it goes with your ant baiting.

I have never grown Heavy Hitter Okra but I have grown Clemson Spineless. What I was wondering is does Heavy Hitter get tough when it get's over 3"-4" long like Clemson Spineless? Clemson Spineless may not get any where else but it does here where I live. Maybe it's the weather or the soil? But it get's tough if not picked at this length. I would appreciate any information on this.

I have tested it to about 6-7 inches and it is not tough. This is my first year growing it.

If it has been raining a lot, the pods get long and will still be tender. If there is drought, it will be short and tough. Once okra gets going strong, it should be harvested 4 days after bloom set, no matter how long it is. The age is what determines toughness. A four day old okra pod in rainy weather will grow 6" or 7" inches, but in drought it may only grow 2" inches. After 4 days, it will all be tough, regardless of length.

I usually have to pick every other day to keep up with it, once it gets going strong, because Heavy Hitter is such a heavy producer.

I cut the first two small pods from mine today. Plants are still short.

I've never grown any other okra, but Heavy Hitter. I recall the tough pods were old ones I missed during harvest. I didn't know any different so I harvested, chopped and ate all the others without a problem. I might not be very picky, though.

My plants are short this year too, due to the 30+ days of cool, rainy, densely overcast days from late April until the middle of June. The growing conditions were terrible this Spring. However, I have been harvesting okra since last week, so it's not a complete bust. Maybe they will recover somewhat during these recent 90 degree days?

I bet they will. The weather we're having now ought to make the okra plants incredibly happy.

Thank you for the information.

In response to ants damaging okra plants, I have found a recipe that might help gardeners to bait them away from their most valuable plants:

Prepare the bait

Mix a teaspoon of borax with a cup of sugar. You can add a spoonful of peanut butter to the mix. Add a small amount of water to make a paste. Larger brews can be made as needed. You can make this recipe into a spray by adding more water.

Place around plants

Using the paste, put spoonfuls of bait on the plastic lids. Place the lids around your garden and next to plants. Although a little messier, you can drop spoonfuls directly on the ground around your plants. Ants will carry this sweet treat back to the nest. The queen and worker ants will eat the bait and die.

***This recipe doesn't sound very pet friendly to me, so I'd use caution if I had a dog, or a chicken that likes to frequent my vegetable patch.***

Discourage returning ants

Another way to discourage ants is by soaking cotton balls in essential oils, such as eucalyptus, mint, camphor or cloves. Ants do not like the smell, so you can also place these at the base of your plants to keep ants at bay. ***Be careful not to let the oils come into contact with your plants.***

Repeat the process

Diligence is the key to getting rid of ants. After a rain or heavy dew, you will need to replace the ant bait. The ants will eat the sweet bait and carry it off to the colony. Keep repeating the process until you no longer see ants.

Using homemade ant bait around your plants is simple and easy to do. You just need a few household items you probably already have in your kitchen and laundry room. The ants will be gone without the need for harsh chemicals or expensive terminator fees.

Sir, will HH okra germinate in this heat with direct sowing? I haven't enough plants so I started some seeds indoors. I put them outside and they died quickly from the heat. I'll baby another set, if I must, but I wonder if they'll germinate in high temps?

Tx

They will if you soak the seeds over night, but you have to water them good every day or they'll die, until the tiny root system develops well enough to reach down deep to get God's water. I've planted them about July 4th many times in Oklahoma's 100 degree heat. I've always gotten a harvest before frost that way, because they only take 55 days to mature, but it takes daily watering, sometimes morning and evening both.

It also helps an awful lot, if you can mulch with wheat straw to retain moisture, and keep some of the surface temperature down from the heat trapped in the soil. Without mulch, often times water and hot sun = steam baked seedlings.

Thanks! We're under a storm with heavy rain, right now. I'll soak tonight and direct sow in the morning. (sorry for everyone who hasn't gotten any rain)

bon

I know this is an older forum but is there anyway to get seeds still?

Yes. I'm sure that Ron Cook has seed. He's the originator of the variety. His address is heavyhitterokra(at)gmail.com . Put the @ symbol in place of (at).

Deanna,

Today is July 24, 2017. I am currently out of stock on Heavy Hitter Okra seeds for the 2017 planting season, however, I will be harvesting the 2018 seed stock by late October to early November. Contact me by email heavyhitterokra (at) gmail.com . put the @ symbol in place of (at).