Good morning, For the most part the garden is planted. I have a few odds and ends that I am wanting to size up before out planting. Habanero peppers are almost as finicky as okra with cool soil so they will be a little longer until they are out planted. This will most likely change this week with mid to upper eighties forecast.
Last year I had tried to force germinated okra seeds in cooler soils. This has worked with other veggies but not okra. So, I am going to erect a bed covering to warm the soil during this up coming warm spell and see about sowing germinated okra seeds next week. I have used this combination of hoops, greenhouse film and agribon 70 to keep greens actively growing through the winter. With the use of a remote thermometer I was able to read the temperature under this kind of cover on an 80-degree day. The temperature was right at 100. I just want to warm the soil, I do not want to super heat it. With just the film the temperature underneath on an 89-degree day could potentially be 130+, way too warm for my needs.
The ideal temperature for okra is around 86-degrees but okra will germinate in soils as warm as 104.
As it stands I have a few beds that I am holding open, one is for a June/July tomato planting, four are for okra and 3 for sweet potatoes. The sweet sets will not arrive until April 15, the toms are still a month or two out before I can start them. So that leaves me the okra. Do I want to try another means of forcing it? I have the seeds so why not? The worst that can happen is, it doesn’t work. Not the first time this has happened. I am not a fan of okra but I do know a lot of folks who are. What a surprise it would be for them to either get okra in their veggie bag orders or even to see it on the table at market.
Open beds just make me think “what if?”.
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