Full Sun
High
Usually grown as an annual, in tropical climates okra can be grown as a short lived perennial. Feed well every couple of months during the growing season. It will become dormant during the cooler months.
The pods should be picked (usually cut) while they are tender and immature (2 to 3 inches long for most varieties). They must be picked often—at least every other day. Okra plants have short hairs that may irritate bare skin. Wear gloves and long sleeves to harvest okra. Use pruning shears for clean cuts that do not harm the rest of the plant. When the stem is difficult to cut, the pod is probably too old to use. The large pods rapidly become tough and woody. The plants grow and bear until frost, which quickly blackens and kills them. Four or five plants produce enough okra for most families unless you wish to can or freeze some for winter use.1
If the pods are missed when harvesting and are too big and tough to use, leave on plant until dried and frost kills plant, then pull off pod and dry out during winter. Plant the seeds in the pod the next season. Be sure you have plenty of plants after you dedicate that one pod to seed harvest.
These estimates for how long Okra takes to sprout, grow and harvest are from real observations from real gardeners, right around the world.
Average 6 days | Min 1 days | Max 16 days (177)
Average 34 days | Min 8 days | Max 81 days (29)
Average 64 days | Min 24 days | Max 295 days (12)
Ladies' fingers, Hibiscus esculentus, Okra "lady's finer", bhindi bamia
Hibiscus esculentus
1 “Okra entry on University of Illinois Extension ":http://urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/okra.cfm