This year, I was able to harvest plenty of okra from my home garden. While I can still expect some more, a few okra pods have grown too large and have started to dry out, making them perfect for collecting seeds for next year.
Using these seeds, I can grow okra again next year, keeping costs to just the effort involved. This is one of the great appeals of home gardening.
In this article, I’ll introduce how to harvest seeds from homegrown okra for next year’s planting.
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Leave overgrown and tough okra on the plant
Okra can grow significantly in a single day, so if you neglect to harvest it, it can quickly become too large and tough to eat.
When this happens, don’t force the harvest; just leave the okra on the plant.
By doing this, the okra will mature and dry out. The photo at the beginning shows this stage, where the stalk is still green, but the okra itself has turned brown and dried.
You must be patient and leave it until it reaches this state.
Harvest the dried okra to collect the seeds
Pick the okra that has fully matured and dried.
We grew star-shaped okra, and the ridges are now dry and cracking. This is the sign that the okra is ready for seed harvesting, so remember it.
Starting from the cracked part, break open the pod. Inside, you’ll find dark green to black seeds. This is the right stage for seed harvesting.
I collected quite a few seeds, but for a home garden, 20-30 seeds are usually enough since you don’t need many okra plants to get a good harvest.
You can also let green okra pods dry out to collect seeds, but those seeds will be a lighter green and visibly different. While it’s possible to grow plants from these lighter seeds, their germination rate isn’t as high. So, if you want reliable seeds for next year, leave one or two pods on the plant until they dry out completely.
Store the harvested okra’s seeds in a plastic bag and keep them in the refrigerator
While paper envelopes can be used, improper humidity control may lead to mold.
To prevent this, place the harvested seeds in a plastic bag and store them in the refrigerator. Using a jar with silica gel or other desiccants is recommended to prevent condensation.
After enjoying your home garden to harvest okra, harvest seeds for next year
This time, I introduced a method for harvesting seeds for next year from okra grown in a home garden.
It wasn’t anything too complicated; I simply waited for the okra I missed harvesting to wither and dry out.
Once the okra had dried up, I harvested it and extracted the seeds.
Then, I stored the seeds carefully in the refrigerator until next year’s planting season.
With this, I can grow okra again next year.
Thinking about it this way, it seems like the price of vegetables is mostly just for the labor, doesn’t it?
For those growing okra, why not try leaving a few plants to wither and harvest the seeds so you can grow them again next year?
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