172 of the 240 okra plants I started in soil blocks have sprouted in the seedling room hot chamber. I'm keeping the temps in the 80s to see how well they will establish. Then to see how well they do after transplant. Maybe next season I will be able to sell "head start" okra plants along with the tomatoes and peppers.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 02, 2002

Answers

Am sure that you prepared your seeds this way, but in case you didn’t and since you are looking at a business out of your okra, you might be interested in these two bits of info.:

“soaking in water at room temperature for 24 hours to improve uniformity of germination. If the plants grow too high they may be cut back to about 2 feet, then fertilized with nitrogen for a new flush of growth.” Rain, http://www.rain.org/greennet/docs/exoticveggies/html/okra.htm

The fleshy pulp, the endosperm or the seed coat can contain chemical inhibitors of germination. Some of these inhibitors are water soluble and can be leached out of the seed, but many can not be washed out and must be broken down by some chemical process. Okra seeds contain a water-soluble inhibitor that can be leached by soaking the seeds in water for 12 to 24 hours. Univ. Florida Extension Services, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_MG276

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), April 02, 2002.