re: The 2021 Garden Thread

A couple years ago I ordered some Cajun Jewel okra seeds from Reimer. They were supposed to be a dwarf, spineless variety with 6-8” long pods. What ended up growing from those seeds were some gigantic plants with gigantic okra. I knew it wasn’t what I ordered. Took me a while to figure out what it was. Come to find out it was Star of David okra.

That was the last time I ordered seeds from Reimer. Cause that wasn’t the first or even the second time that that happened. I still want to know what the Cajun Jewel tastes like. Maybe I’ll order from a different source one day.

ETA: The Star of David okra was pretty good, though.

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What variety of okra do you plant? I

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I stick with your basic tried and true Clemson Spineless. I pick the pods when they are around 4-5 inches long to use for just about everything I use them for, but will pick some smaller to put up in pint jars instead of quarts from time to time.

ETA: When they are in full production come July onward, I can get 35-40 pods a day from 50 plants and it is not uncommon for me to get 50 or more from the same amount of plants from time to time.

What I like about okra is it is a very low maintenance crop. It thrives in the heat and is very drought tolerant. I've also not run into any pest that will harm the plants. They are damn near indestructible until the day they are removed from the garden.

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Cucumbers never transplant well for me so I may just plant one start and direct sow the rest tomorrow.

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I always direct sow cucumbers, beans, squash, okra, beets and in the fall, lots of lettuce and salad green varieties.

I too find a lot of stuff does not do as well when transplanted out of those small starter pots.

What about that inevitable "right before Easter" frost?

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What about that inevitable "right before Easter" frost?

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I truly doubt we'll get any more weather even in the 40's at night in S.E. La.

My biggest issue with mild winters is they don't allow the cold to kill off some of the pests that overwinter and come out earlier in the spring. Some of my worst years for pests is behind a mild winter.

I am hoping that really hard freeze we had killed some pests. My soil was frozen solid.

That’s my main raised bed situation as of today.

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The leaves on my tomatoes look stressed or something. I guess from transitioning to outside?

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They have a little bit of sun scald. Not too bad, though. They got a little too much sun too quick during hardening off. They should be able to outgrow it and you'll be able to prune the damaged leaves off. You can prune the baby leaves if you'd like. They have already served their purpose.

ETA: If you are confident that there is no danger of frost in your area, then it should be fine to plant your squash. They also appear to have some minor sun damage. They too should grow out of it.

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I’m in Brandon MS. Forecast looks pretty good. May do it this weekend.

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When you plant those tomatoes, pinch off low lying leaves and bury the stems as deep as you feel comfortable doing. I usually put mine almost up to the leaves I let remain on the plant. The stem underground will send out more roots that way.

I forgot to take a picture but have y'all had light green leaves only in the middle of your tomato plants? Almost every single one was like that this morning.

I went ahead and treated it like a nitrogen deficiency but curious because I've only seen it get like at the tips of leaves, not center of the whole plant.