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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 24, 2021 6:18:34 GMT -6
When you first posted the pictures of your pods with the color scale, my first thought was, “I can’t match those colors because they don’t have enough yellow on the card.”
I really enjoyed that video, too, and it made me pay attention to the okra I’m growing in a new way. I have six plants in various stages of maturity in my garden and one plant in a planter on my deck that is thriving. I had already noticed that the deck plant has bigger leaves with less pronounced lobes, but after watching the video, I also noticed that it has a lot more red coloration that continued down the stems of the leaves. I wonder if it’s just the genetics of the particular seed I used, or if it’s a response to a different environment. I don’t know the why’s of what I’m seeing, but it’s still so interesting to observe.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 24, 2021 7:43:51 GMT -6
Glen and I sort of think the larger leaves come on earlier in the season, to collect more sunlight. Later in the year, those tend to fall off and be replaced by enlongated, five fingered leaves that are much smaller. it is our hypothesis that early on, the plant is gathering all the energy it can, for setting blossoms, once the blossoms are set, the extra burden of pod production trumps the effort put into growing out larger leaves, so the plant gears down and focuses on growing pods rather than growing large leaves.
This theory is not founded on any imperical evidence, it's just our best guess as to why Autumn okra leaves tend to look so much like marijuana, compared to the huge leaves of early Summer.
We have no clue why some years the red veins are so prominent. Could be the soil pH, could be something entirely unrelated. That part is still a mystery.
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Post by hedgeapple on Jul 24, 2021 8:51:23 GMT -6
Glen and I sort of think the larger leaves come on earlier in the season, to collect more sunlight. Later in the year, those tend to fall off and be replaced by enlongated, five fingered leaves that are much smaller. I observed this when I grew Burmese. That was the first year I grew okra in my own garden and I was confused, because the okra which had inspired me to try growing it had those super-narrow leaves when I saw them the previous fall. My plants began with huge wide leaves at the base on progressed to the narrow leaves later in summer that looked so much like marijuana that I became a little concerned. Don't know what the plant's strategy is with those changes in leaf width, but I'm sure there is good reason.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 28, 2021 13:08:57 GMT -6
Now that you gentlemen have pointed this out, I’m beginning to observe the same thing. The plant in the planter on the deck is younger than most of the others, but it’s beginning to put out more lobed leaves now. I was studying one of the oldest in my garden this morning, and its newest leaves are very thin and deeply lobed. Fire ants have started eating that plant, so I am putting bait out to try to reduce their presence.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Nov 1, 2021 5:43:22 GMT -6
Do those color cards have small holes punched in each shade, so you can hold the card over the pods to make it easier to find the best match?
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Post by Tucson Grower on Nov 1, 2021 6:12:54 GMT -6
Glen and I sort of think the larger leaves come on earlier in the season, to collect more sunlight. Later in the year, those tend to fall off and be replaced by elongated, five fingered leaves that are much smaller. Over the years I've grown many different varieties of okra in many different places. This year is my first time trying some in containers. I'm not sure why I used containers, but all my other vegetables and flowers are planted in the ground. Anyway, I have two 15 gallon pots of okra, one with four Jambalaya plants, the other with two Star of David and one Alabama Red. The earliest leaves on all, were the largest. The SOD and AR plants are all producing several branches each, from near their bottoms, all with smaller, deeply incised leaves, while continuing to bloom and form pods from both the old and new branch tips. Most of the older, larger leaves were quickly aborted. The Jambalaya, however, did the same with its older, larger leaves, but instead of distinct branches, is producing leaves, flowers, and pods at nearly every node, about 2/3-3/4 up its single stalks. Some of those nodes are forming very small, nearly horizontal branches. Though Jambalaya did the same (aborted) it's larger, older, leaves, and their new leaves closely resemble the new leaves on the SOD and AR plants.
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