Thursday, 19 June 2014

How to Grow Okra




Preparation of Soil
  • Growing okra requires well-drained soil that’s neither over fertilized nor over watered.
  • Well drained, sandy soils are preferred. Addition of manure or other organic material is usually beneficial on such light-textured soils. Okra grows best in neutral to slightly alkaline soils, pH 6- 6.8.

Sowing
  • Okra seed numbers approximately 8,000 per pound. Use approximately 3 Kg seed/acre. Plant 1 inch deep, 4-6 seeds/foot of row. Thin to desired spacing when plants are 3 inches tall. Germination many be enhanced by soaking seeds several (4-6 hours) hours or overnight immediately before planting. The seed will need to be surface dried for mechanical planting.
  • Spacing should be 30X45 or 20X60 cm. Tall or spiny cultivars require wide spacing.
  • Growers interested in early fresh market or in short growing season areas may find it profitable to transplant. Sow seeds in 2-inch pots or cell-packs, 3 seeds per pot, 1/4 inch deep, 4-5 weeks ahead of transplanting. Thin to 1 plant per pot or cell.

Fertilizer application

  • Two weeks before sowing, apply 10 tonnes of FYM/acre ( 25 Tonnes/ha).
  • Apply NPK 40:30:30 per acre before sowingof seeds. 3.After 30 days apply 20 kg of N/acre . Nitrogen should be given in form of Ammonium sulpahate.

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