Okra Seed Saving

[hedgeapple]

Any best practices for short and long term okra seed saving?

[heavyhitterokra]

Hedgeapple,

Leave your pods on the plants as long as possible to cure in Autumn. They will look dead and dry, and be a wheat straw color if they are healthy pods. (You will be able to hear the seeds inside if you shake them.)  

The weather plays a big part in the timing of my seed pod harvest. If it looks like it might rain for two or three days after the mature seed pods are dried, I go ahead and harvest them to avoid mildew, but if it's a sunny Autumn, I like to leave the pods on the plants long enough to get a hard freeze to kill any bugs, eggs, or worms, inside.

After harvest, I place the pods inside brown paper grocery bags and let them hang from the rafters in my kitchen for at least 30 days, to cure. I usually don't shell out the seeds until sometime after Thanksgiving.

Most years, I leave the seeds inside the pods all winter, unless I need the space, then, I'll shell them to make space.

If the seeds are well cured, you can freeze them, but I don't usually do that until after Spring planting season, then only if I have surplus.

I hope this was of some help.

Happy Seed Saving,
Ron

[hedgeapple]

Thanks, Ron!

[heavyhitterokra]

I'm going to take a shot in the dark here and say we'll see a drastic change in weather by October 1st this year. Today, is September 23rd and daily highs are holding steady at 90 + degrees, but I'm saying that will change really quick if what I see headed down from Canada hits us by this time next week.

The weatherman hasn't called it yet, so I might be wrong, but I think we're less than 10 days from some nights in the low fifties.

That ought to put our okra plants into high gear concerning pod maturity and seed production.

I hope we get a tiny bit more slack than we did the last time I saw a system this strong headed across the Northern Pacific.  That was back in 2011; the year temperatures dropped into the lower twenties the first week of October and killed all my okra plants before I had hardly any mature seeds.  I lost all but five mature seed pods that year.

[heavyhitterokra]

I harvested about 400 mature seed pods last night before the heavy rains came. I know that's way earlier than I usually harvest any pods, but these plants were really spectacular specimens, so I stopped harvesting any pods from them in the middle of July.  That caused them to go to seed way early.  

Once the pods have fully matured (until you can hear the seeds rattle when you shake them) you'll need to bring them out of the weather if it's going to rain for several days in a row like it will this week. If you don't keep them semi-dry, they will begin to mildew very quickly.

Since I sell my seeds, I need them to be in tip top condition.

I don't believe mildewed seed pods would have a whole lot of affect on germination, as I've seen pods lay on the bare ground all Winter and still sprout up okra in Spring, but I do think it affects the overall quality and appearance.  For that reason, I try not to leave them out in really rainy weather.

[hedgeapple]

Ron,

I've followed your advice to the letter and have a paper bag full of seed pods from my best plant in a perfect spot. The specimen I chose for seed was ready about three weeks ago (rattle), but after harvesting, a mix of rain, and hot days decided to put on another burst of pods. Definitely picked the right plant.

[heavyhitterokra]

Hedgeapple, that's Awesome!

Everyone ought to save seed that way. If they did, we'd have many more highly-improved varieties than we do today.

[heavyhitterokra]

Here we go ... Even though yesterday and today were both 90-degree-days, Saturday night's low is forecast to be around 57 degrees, then Sunday night's low is forecast to be an even cooler 51 degrees, finally, Monday night's low is forecast to be in the upper 40s.   It sounds like plenty of rain is headed this way too, so you'd better prepare to gather your Fall seeds indoors by the week's end, if you live in or near, Cherokee County Oklahoma. 

(Gathering a little dry firewood might not be such a bad idea either) whether for the wood stove, the chiminea, the grill, or the smoker. 

Autumn is finally on its way!   

It sounds like Saturday afternoon might be some decent chicken and pork smoking weather.  I'm thinking, "Bar-B-Que Ribs."

I have been looking forward to this for a long, long, time, right in time for bow season too!  Nice!  There are a lot of ripe persimmons on the ground right now and many more on the way.  The deer are hitting those pretty hard over here at my house.

I've got a big turnip patch that I planted in late August.  The plants are about a foot tall right now and are ready for gathering greens.  I know what I'll be doing on that first cooler Fall day.  It will be time to pull some tender Autumn greens to boil down with some homemade, chicken stock and hopefully, I'll find a few black-eyed peas amongst my Three Sisters planting of corn, squash, and legumes. 

A deer wouldn't be a bad thing either.  I've got plenty of fresh tracks along my sweet potato plantings, that's for sure. > > >  I've fed those pesky deer all Summer long, now, maybe, they'll feed me and my family, come Winter.

Don't forget to gather your delicate flower seeds before this week's end too.  Things like marigolds really soak up the water during cooler, rainy days.  They go to ruin shortly there after.  Grab a few of those withered and dried cherry tomatoes while you're at it.  You'll thank yourself later when your seeds are not mildewed. 

I need to bring in my sunflower seed assortment.  If I forget to gather those seeds much longer, the birds will have eaten them all and they will be lost.  I'll buy black oil sunflower seeds for the birds this Winter ... Feeding the birds is one of my favorite pass times. But my tri-colored sunflowers are just for me to enjoy.

Happy Fall, Y'all  Enjoy this coming, cooler weather!