Emerald tops my list, Clemson Spineless brings up the rear. In general I like the velvet okras better than the ridged varieties.

What are velvet okras?

Dean

Up until this year I've routinely planted Cowhorn. Cowhorn produces very large okra pods that stay tender even if 10 to 12 inches. However, Cowhorn plants generally grows to 10 or more feet (for me). A while back, I tried Clemson Spineless and was not impressed - small fruit that hardened quickly. This year I decided to try Emerald. I've got to agree with Farmerdilla, this was a great choice. Emerald has a great taste. The okra plants were more bushy but only reached 5 to 6 feet. However, Emerald okra pods were smaller (about 6 inches) and did get harder sooner that did Cowhorn. But the positives outweighed the negatives and I'm planning to go back next year with Emerald. I haven't decided if I want to toss in a few Cowhorn plants into the garden mix.

Emerald sounds like a winner, I actually plan to order from Sandhill Preservation and they had Emerald Okra last year, so I hope they will Emerald this year as well.

thanks,
Dean

deanriowa,

You will love Emerald. I agree with eveyone who responded. It stays tender MUCH longer than Clemson Spineless. I grew CS only once many years ago - never again. My fav is Louisiana Green Velvet. The seed is difficult to find and this year I found it and saved my own seed. I find that LGV will grow 7-9 inches long and stay tender. In your zone start your plants 4-6 weeks before setting outside. The plants might get leggy but they will branch out when you set them outside. This way your okra have a head start and you can get larger plants & better harvest before frost kills them.

DL

Emerald is a 1950 introduction from the Campbell soup company. It is a green velvet type with the 1940 Louisianna Green velvet in its parentage. Other Velvet types include White Velvet, White Lightning, Parbhani Kranti , Evergreen.... Velvet types have round smooth pods.

I'm intrigued by Emerald - any reports on how it will do in northern areas?

I grew Annie Oakley last year and was sorely disappointed. Only got a handful of okra all year, but luckily a friend had some prolific plants of unknown origin and subsidized my gumbo habit nicely.

Granny Franklin is a decent okra especially good for pickling. Most okras do not store well when pickled. Granny Franklin has been selected and used for pickling and frying for at least the last 50 years.

The only thing I would warn about is that Granny Franklin does get hard at about 5 inches long so you would have to pick it at least every other day to get consistently tender okra. I don't see that as a problem since Emerald has about the same characteristic re getting hard.

http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/

DarJones

Has anyone tried the Okra variety "Lee"?

It is a dwarf variety that I have been thinking about trying since I do not have a lot of space.

I planted babby bubba and sweet lucy in a container this past summer. I like them both for the taste and size.

{{gwi:132886}}

Silvia

"I want to try okra that doesn't get tough fast, if I do not pick it daily and that would be good for making Okra Pickles and cooking in a cheese sauce."

Dean, here's another vote for Emerald. I've been growing Clemson Spineless for years, but thought I'd try Emerald last year, so I grew both. Although we had the same challenging Spring you had, they both produced "ok". When comparing the two however, Emerald won hands down - more tender, better texture, better taste.

Next year, I think I'll drop the CS all together.

Rick

Emerald Okra
{{gwi:132887}}

It sounds like the only thing I am going to miss about Clemson Spineless when I try Emerald are the shape(corner/ridges) as Emerald looks nice and smooth.

Thanks again for the recommendations. I am definitely buying Emerald Okra from Sandhill Preservation or ordering from SSE yearbook depending upon availability at Sandhill. I will have a small plot also of Fife Creek and Pink okra to trial.

It was asked: "I'm intrigued by Emerald - any reports on how it will do in northern areas?"

I am wondering the same thing, so is there anyone from the North growing Emerald and how does it do for you?

thanks again.

Dean

I am loathe to admit it but I too tried emerald last year for the first time, after thirty years of clemson spineless. My only other experience has been with cowhorn and alabama red in childhood. I hate to admit it but the emerald was better in that it did not get tough as quick and could go longer between pickings (clemson is a hard and fast every other day picking and does even better picked daily). I'm still not sold on smooth round pods though, old ways die hard.
This diehard will never move totally away from clemson (it is reliable to a fault) but I do appreciate the finer qualities of emerald.

I wanted to try the emerald, but its hard to find, had to order clemson spineless from Renee's seeds, alot of seed companies will not ship okra seeds to Calif :( I grew the CS last year and I liked it. I ate so much of it I didn't get to freeze any of it

I obtain Emerald from Willhite seed. A half lb of seed is less than $4.00. http://www.willhiteseed.com/products.php?cat=49

Thanks Farmerdilla :) I will try to order some from them, I love okra....hopefully they will ship them to cali

Sandhill specifically recommends Emerald for norther gardens, IIRC.

It did well here in Massachusetts. I'm another fan of Emerald.

Jim

I have been growing Emerald for about ten years now. I save one pod off of every plant and mix the seeds together to get my next years seeds.
For the last two years I have had volunteer okra coming up from shattered seed pods.
I didn't think that the seed would be viable in the ground in zone 5b.
Any comments?

Okra seed can be viable for up to 5 years just lying in the soil. It will survive just about anything except being frozen solid IF the seed started out properly dried. You can store thoroughly dried okra seed in a deep freeze for up to 10 years.

DarJones

Please tell me about the white velvet types. Are they really "white"? What about taste? I'm in Arizona so okras that enjoy heat are fine. I have an area with constant wetness plus a couple of gardens that are nice and dry so I'd like varieties that could handle both if possible.

i also have moved away from Clemson spineless, seemed that the more you picked it the quicker it got hard. trying a one just called burgundy its red type anyone have any opinions on it. will have to try the emerald everyone seems to love it and the cow horn seems like another winner. thanks to the op great thread as I am still looking for an old reliable for okra that I can always come back to.

Burgundy is quite attractive and eats ok, but is a very poor producer for me.

I grow Stewart's Zeebest, which is a velvet podded heirloom from Louisianna. Before (and after) the most intense heat, here in OK, pods can top 10" and stay tender. The plants are mult-branched and fairly bushy.

George
Tahlequah, OK