On 18 July, 17:20, wrote:
Anyone any experience of growing okra? *I planted it kind of at random, as
it was lying around and I'd never grown it before. *Never tasted it either,
actually.

I currently have 2 plants (I think I sold some at the summer fete) in the
greenhouse, still in quite small pots - both about 6" tall atm, but one has
a bud that may be a flower but looking again today looks more like it may be
a new leaf bud.

So ... what shall I do with them now?

--

full hard sunlight. in a very hot place. The pods which come after the
hibiscus like yellow flowers (member of the ablemouschous family)
harvested when they are about as long as your finger to the first
middle joint. Any larger and it gets woody and you can only save the
seeds for next year. cut the caps off the top, dip into a beaten egg
with a little bit of water (half an egg shell of water to one egg) and
then rolled in corn meal. not flour. Fried in hot vegetable oil (not
smoking hot, that's too hot) until golden brown. The other way is to
cut up into little round pieces, cut up a ripe tomato and boil until
it's tender, or cut them up in a veggie soup. the "snottiness" goes
away with the acidity of the tomato. I grew up on okra thanks to the
African slaves sneaking seeds up here with them 300+ years ago. It's
considered a "Southern" vegetable. I like mine both ways. Not really
good raw, but better cooked. Excellent in soups. Makes a good
thickener and provides iron. Good flavor. Likes rain, good soil, and
heat. You could grow it against a wall that gets the harshest sunshine
you can get. Mine are just now setting flowers. If you don't have
pollinator's, a paint brush will do. I also have been searching for
the ornamental seeds of Ablemouschous. A red one that had short leaves
and dark pink/red flowers with soft short pods, and the taller more
aggressive ornamental Ablemouschous with very prickly stems and leaves
and pods after the huge yellow flowers with the burgundy throats that
grew to five foot tall. I liked the red shorter one's better. Strictly
ornamental were those two. If you get one that is a hybrid (I think
that one is called "spineless" it wouldn't mind the cooler
temperatures like the more prickly ones do. And prickly is the key
word here. If your's are happy, the stems will be itchy when you pick
the pods. Since they're the containers of seeds after the flowers, I
was always wondering if it was a fruit or a veggie. I have Red Clemson
okra that makes red pods, and the spineless green one. If I find my
extra package of seeds I can send you some, and just store the seeds
in a plastic zip baggie in your refridgerator until next year, start
them earlier by soaking them for an hour and then planting them three
times their size into good potting soil, and set them out after frost
is past. We have so much of it here, it's in the frozen vegetable
section of our grocery stores in both cut up pieces and whole. And you
can find pickled okra in the pickle section! I adore pickled okra! Not
slimey at all for those who don't like the slime of it.

Good luck!
maddie over in the Delta region of West Tennessee growing zone 7b
which is very very warm