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When to Remove Okra From a Garden

Like most annual vegetables, okra grows well in the summer garden and produces a continual crop once it reaches maturity. Frequent harvesting encourages the plant to flower and produce subsequent crops of edible pods. The plants eventually require removal from the garden after they reach the end of their productive life and no longer produce further crops.

  1. Growing Season

    • Okra thrives in the warm summer season. The plant doesn't tolerate cold temperatures, so it only grows in warm weather. Temperatures below freezing kill the plant. The growing season varies depending on your location. Okra may only survive for two or three months in short-season areas that experience early- or mid-fall frosts. It may continue to grow into late fall in warm climates that experience only minimal winter freezing or late frosts. Leave the okra in the garden until it stops producing or dies due to cold so you can reap the largest harvest possible from the plants.

    Extending the Season

    • Even a light frost can kill an okra plant. Once exposed to frost, the plants turn black and die back. Light fall frosts sometimes occur even when warmer weather is expected to follow. Extend the season by protecting the okra during the short frost period. Cover the plant with a frost blanket or other protective covering. Remove the cover once the frost danger passes. Dig up the plant only after a severe frost exposure causes it to die.

    Final Harvest

    • Frost can occur unexpectedly near the end of the growing season. Harvest the tender okra pods daily once they become mature enough to use, as the end of the growing season draws close. Harvest all remaining pods over 2 inches in length if a frost is predicted and if you have no plans to protect the okra plant. These pods are large enough to use, and a last-minute harvest ensures that you will reap all the useful pods from the plant before the cold temperatures kill the plant.

    Removal Method

    • Leave the plant in place until it blackens after frost exposure. It's simpler to pull up a dead okra plant than a live one, since the roots of the dead one are brittle and break off easily when you pull. Tilling provides another option for okra plant removal. Till the garden bed, plants included, back into the soil at the end of the growing season using a power tiller. The tiller shreds the dead plants and returns their nutrients back to the garden soil so they can benefit next year's crop.

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Growing Vegetables
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