Little Lucy

[brownrexx]

I Googled Little Lucy and she looks cute.

[hairymooseknuckles]

brownrexx,

It's adorable! I was so amazed at how tiny and pretty the plant was. Okra is NOT normally tiny. I know my wife took pictures and I just have to get her to find them.

[mgulfcoastguy]

Has anybody started okra indoors? I usually just soak okra seeds and plant a lot of them per hill. This time I want to maximize the number of hills compared to the number of seeds.

[brownrexx]

mgulfcoastguy, I always start my okra indoors when I start my tomatoes. This year I may start them a couple of weeks later than the tomatoes because they grow pretty fast and I don't want them to get pot bound before it is warm enough to plant them outside.

Here is my Little Lucy from 2018

20180821_163635 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[Laura_in_FL]

I've started my okra inside before, too. (Usually I don't because my indoors seed-starting space is limited.) Okra seedlings do great indoors and grow fast if your seed-starting area is really warm and well-lit. 4-5 weeks from sowing should get you transplant size seedlings if you have a warm seed starting area.

I never had any trouble transplanting okra; just use reasonable care not to disturb the root ball too much.

[pepperhead212]

I usually start mine 2 weeks after my tomatoes and peppers, indoors. They go out with the peppers - like the peppers, they prefer the warm soil, but eventually they start growing too fast, if planted at the same time indoors, so I found about 2 weeks late to be about right.

[brownrexx]

This will be fun. I have sent seeds to pepperhead212, mgulfcoastguy, and spike.

It will be interesting to compare notes. I really hope that they are as good as last year.

If anyone else wants to try Little Lucy, PM me with an address. I saved plenty of seeds to share.

[spike]

Dec 27, 2018 9:52:57 GMT -5 brownrexx said:

This will be fun. I have sent seeds to pepperhead212, mgulfcoastguy, and spike

OH OH OH How exciting. I have never grown okra, I have never eaten okra and so it seems have a lot to learn!! Thank you so much!!

[bestofour]

Last year I didn't soak the seeds. I put them in an ice cube tray, covered with water, froze until ready to plant. The freezing and thawing process breaks the hard outer coat.

[brownrexx]

spike , I had never eaten okra before 2 years ago either and I have learned to really like it. From my limited experience it seems like different varieties have similar tastes but some are more tender than others and some yield more or less pods. This Little Lucy was very prolific and the pods are red. They stayed tender even when the pods got larger. I have heard from others that larger pods are tougher on most okra.

I grew 4 varieties last year and Little Lucy grew the best for me and we liked the pods the best of all 4 varieties. Little Lucy was grown about 200 feet away from all of the others in a completely separate bed so I don't expect that it crossed with the others.

The one thing you will learn with okra is that the pods grow really FAST. One day they are tiny and the next day they are a pickable size. I picked a couple almost every day.

If you scroll up to the picture that I posted, you can see a couple of small pods at the top of the left hand plant. The flowers are a pretty yellow. 

[hairymooseknuckles]

Gianna,Laura_in_FL,brownrexx,pepperhead212,hairymooseknuckles,mgulfcoastguy,spike,bestofour,


Oh how cool, we can have a Little Lucy and Frosty Pink Plum growout. This will help keep seeds I've saved over the years growing and being enjoyed by others!

[Laura_in_FL]

I'm game to try Little Lucy.

(I didn't sign up for the Frosty Pink Plum growout since I don't really use/eat plum tomatoes and my tomato growing space is already waaaaayyyy overbooked.)

[brownrexx]

Laura_in_FL, PM me with your address and I will send you some Little Lucy seeds from the plants I grew last year or you can get some from hairymooseknuckles, stash. I originally got my seeds from hairymooseknuckles, and I grew them in their own area away from other okra.

20180821_163635 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

20180821_163729 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[mgulfcoastguy]

Three plants sprouted and 13 more tbd.

[mgulfcoastguy]

About 9 sprouted so far.

[Deleted]

I see you guys touting Little Lucy as tender even when pods are large. Where does one buy seed?

I grow Clemson Spineless, always have, but once it gets a bit too large one might as well eat a 2z4.

[Laura_in_FL]

Okay, this is really embarrassing. I went to (finally!) plant okra today and I can't find my Little Lucy seeds. I know that hairymooseknuckles sent them to me - I remember getting them. But I can't find them...they are nowhere in my seed stash, even though the rest of my okra varieties are there.

Does anyone have any spare seeds they can send me who can mail them out this week? I only need a few plants, so I only need a few seeds. (I can always save more seeds.)

I would be happy to trade or send cash/PayPal. I would prefer not to SASE in this case just because of the extra time it takes to mail both ways, since I am already late getting my okra planted.

[brownrexx]

Jun 4, 2019 9:50:20 GMT -5 @oxankle2 said:

Where does one buy seed?

Jun 4, 2019 12:30:39 GMT -5 Laura_in_FL said:

Does anyone have any spare seeds they can send me who can mail them out this week?

@oxankle2, I don't know where you can buy seeds. I got mine last year from hairymooseknuckles, and I have a bunch that I saved from that growing that crop.

I would be happy to send some to you and Laura_in_FL, if you PM me with your address. I can mail them tomorrow and they should arrive quickly since they can go for just a first class stamp.

No trades or postage are necessary. I am happy to share and it will be fun to compare notes with everyone in the late summer.

[Laura_in_FL]

Thanks so much! I just sent you a PM.

[bestofour]

brownrexx, this made me chuckle and you know why.

[brownrexx]

I really hope that these seeds produce good plants. I have sent them to about 6 people. They were originally a hybrid and hairymooseknuckles , saved seeds and said that what he sent to me was F4. That would make the ones I sent out F5. I grew them in a separate area about 200 feet away from my other okra so they should not have crossed.

Original Little Lucy is supposed to be no more than 2 feet high and is considered a dwarf. Mine were possibly 3 feet high but the plants were really pretty with red stems and pods and the pods were really tender and flavorful.

I hope that everyone likes them. It will be interesting to compare opinions on this plant.

[hairymooseknuckles]

Laura_in_FL,

Are you taken care of? I have a few more n the freezer somewhere. I only kept back about 20 seeds for me. I intended to grow them out this year, but I didn't.

I can try and find them if you need some.

[brownrexx]

hairymooseknuckles her seeds were mailed today.

[hairymooseknuckles]

brownrexx,

Thank You so much!!!!

[mgulfcoastguy]

LL is finally blooming.

[mgulfcoastguy]

Jun 18, 2019 18:13:29 GMT -5 mgulfcoastguy said:

LL is finally blooming.

And has a small okra on it.

[brownrexx]

Laura_in_FL , spike , bestofour , pepperhead212 , mgulfcoastguy , carolyn

How do those of you growing the Little Lucy like it?

I am slowly getting some pods but my plants are starting to branch and the branches have flowers so I should have more soon.

The ones we have eaten so far have been good. It is the only variety that I am growing this year and boy does it love the heat. I could almost see it growing during that heat wave 2 weeks ago.

[pepperhead212]

They are definitely growing faster now, and I have to slice some today, blach them for ep sec., and freeze them. I've noticed clusters of blossoms, instead of just one blossom, which is why they seem to be producing more now. I think that the largest ones are about 4' tall now. Okra does love the heat. That, and my hot peppers, were thriving in that intense heat we've had lately!

[brownrexx]

pepperhead212, how do you like them compared to other Okra varieties? I am not an Okra expert but I like them better than the other varieties that I have grown in the past (Clemson Spineless and Jing Orange).

[pepperhead212]

brownrexx I definitely like the flavor as well as any that I have grown, and better than many. And, like Emerald, it hasn't gotten fibrous, when I mised some, that got 6 or 7" long - the only one that got fibrous was the one that I originally left on a plant to save for seeds, until I found that this could stop growth, so I decided to wait until the end of the season, instead. I did not eat that one, but it was the only one that was fibrous when I cut through it, which made sense, given how long I had left it on the plant. Most varieties I find get fibrous when larger than 4".