The Okra With The Fringe On Top

[liuzhou]

Wierd

 

I've been cooking and eating okra for around 40 years, but never noticed this before.

 

Every pod in the latest batch I bought has taken to growing a fringe

 

 

Is this normal, and I'm just unobservant beyond redemption, or we being invaded by mutant fashion concious okra? The future of mankind may depend on the answer.

[MetsFan5]

Very weird. At least to me. Living in the NYC metro area the only okra I basically always keep on hand is specialty store bought pickled okra and I checked my new jar and it indeed is lacking fringe. 

 

   Maybe your okra is making a fashion statement? 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

Wierd

 

I've been cooking and eating okra for around 40 years, but never noticed this before.

 

Every pod in the latest batch I bought has taken to growing a fringe

 

 

Is this normal, and I'm just unobservant beyond redemption, or we being invaded by mutant fashion concious okra? The future of mankind may depend on the answer.

 

Well, I have no explanation for you. I grew okra for years. It loves heat. Mine never had that feature. I searched for Chinese okra and it is a completely different vegetable. So hmmm? GMO? I honestly don't know, but if someone comes up with a credible answer, I will be all ears/eyes. Weird? 

 

Sort of looks like the "fringe" at the top of a tomato, and tomatoes and okra are a classic combination. Are we in for more Fraknen-veggies? Thank the gods for the seed bank in Norway.

 

How does it taste?

[Anna N]

Explanation?

[liuzhou]

48 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Well, I have no explanation for you. I grew okra for years. It loves heat. Mine never had that feature. I searched for Chinese okra and it is a completely different vegetable. So hmmm? GMO? I honestly don't know, but if someone comes up with a credible answer, I will be all ears/eyes. Weird? 

 

Sort of looks like the "fringe" at the top of a tomato, and tomatoes and okra are a classic combination. Are we in for more Fraknen-veggies? Thank the gods for the seed bank in Norway.

 

How does it taste?

 

What is turning up in your searches is, I'm sure, luffah or loofah, the gourd which in its dried form is the thing you scrub with in the bath to remove dead skin. It is a beautiful vegetable, one of my favourites, and nothing like okra in the slightest other than being green. BTW, I've never heard anyone call it "Chinese okra" outside of Google.

 

My be-fringed okra is regular in every way except that fringe. In taste, appearance, size, etc. it is okra. Because it is okra! I had some last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

I'm glad no one is saying "What's wrong with you? Okra always has a fringe", though. I was beginning to doubt my sanity.

[Anna N]

@liuzhou

 Did you see my link above? 

[liuzhou]

31 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Explanation?

 

Hypothesis.

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

@liuzhou

 Did you see my link above? 

 

Yes, saw it, but was a bit too tied up to give it my full attention. Sorry.

 

I've never seen okra growing - it looks beautiful, but I think it might overtax my balcony and my beloved lime tree might suffer oxygen and light deficiency and I can't allow that.

 

As to rapid growth resulting in fringes, I just don't know.  I've been buying okra here for a while and never noticed fringes before. It is possible that the supermarket has changed supplier, but I can't get any information from the supermarket staff. Information is not something they are equipped with.

 

"Where does the okra come from?"

 

"That big room at the back of the store."

 

I need an okratician.

[Anna N]

11 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I need an okratician.

Bet we have one on the forum somewhere. Patience, Grasshopper (as they say in Canada).

[Shelby]

Interesting.

 

When I saw your picture, @liuzhou I thought "well, yeah, I've grown some that look like that".  But, after going through my garden/okra pictures, I can't find any.

 

I have 12 plants going right now in the garden.  I will report later in the summer.

[sparrowgrass]

Mine sometimes has that fringe.  I usually plant Clemson spineless.  

 

BTW--the only GMO vegetable widely available in the US is sweet corn.  

[Anna N]

18 minutes ago, sparrowgrass said:

Mine sometimes has that fringe.  I usually plant Clemson spineless.  

 

BTW--the only GMO vegetable widely available in the US is sweet corn.  

Yup.  My link was to Clemson spineless.

[blue_dolphin]

When I look through images of okra plants, it seems like the smaller, younger fruits have those little leaflets attached but the larger ones do not, suggesting they might dry up and fall off naturally.  

Maybe yours are a bit younger or grown under conditions that enabled them to stay attached longer?  

Or, as has been suggested, a different variety.

 

Edited to add: that's all speculation on my part and just from looking at photos.  I've never seen okra growing in the wild. 

Edited May 26, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Those look like the same things you find on squash blossoms. The green sepals enclose the bud and protect it somewhat from insects or climatic events, and the opening flower pushes through the sepals. By the time you get to mature okra they have withered away to almost nothing, poor little things. So they're just the end result of the process, in a kind of a way, from green bud to mature fruit--useful at the beginning but not necessary at the end. By the way, I'm not an okra fan except in gumbo.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

Those look like the same things you find on squash blossoms. The green sepals enclose the bud and protect it somewhat from insects or climatic events, and the opening flower pushes through the sepals. By the time you get to mature okra they have withered away to almost nothing, poor little things. So they're just the end result of the process, in a kind of a way, from green bud to mature fruit--useful at the beginning but not necessary at the end. By the way, I'm not an okra fan except in gumbo.

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

 That was my reasoning but not being a gardener of any sort I thought it better not to say anything.  But to me they look exactly like the sepals you see on most plants that flower.  

[Shelby]

Reporting back.

 

I planted Clemson spineless seeds.  Yesterday I was able to pick enough to have for dinner.  Anyway, as you can see, the two bigger ones on the left have the fringe.  The four others on the right do not.  The two that do were picked from two different plants.  I will do further investigation to see if the same plant produces some with fringe and some without.

 

 

Edited to add:  It's the more mature/bigger pods that have the fringe......

Edited July 24, 2017 by Shelby (log)