Okra harvest/seeds

[Lisa J Gehl]

As you see below my name, I'm in Phoenix so the fall season is just beginning as most seem to be shutting down their gardens.

And during the summer I had MORE than enough okra. When we got tired of eating it, we pickled them (successfully and for the first time!), and we froze some (at least 10 lbs worth). So thank goodness the okra is about finished. My husband is too happy and he absolutely loves okra. hehe

I've never saved many seeds and wanted to know how you go about it with okra. Does the size matter for it, meaning if it gets large and woody can I still take seeds from that? And do you wait till the okra gets completely dried before taking the seeds out?

Thanks for any help. :)

[FarmerDill]

Assuming that you have one of the many cultivars of open pollinated okra, Simply let the pods dry on the plant. Cut them and let them dry for a couple of weeks, then break open the pods, shake out the seeds, and store them in a cool dry place till planting time. You can do this with hybrid okra, but will get a mix as some revert back to parent plants.

[rose]

We've grown okra since the 1950's and saving seed is easy. Like FD indicated, we let the pods mature and dry on the plant. When it loses all of its green color (is dried), we simply cut the whole pod, store them in the garage over the entire winter, then in the spring, just shell the seeds out and plant them.

[Lisa J Gehl]

Thanks so much Rose and Farmer Dill for your advice. :) Much appreciated.