Seeds for Horseradish, Red Okra *

(Question)

Where can I get seeds for horseradish and red okra?  I want to start plants from seed only, not from plants.

 

(Answer)

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) is planted in spring, with crowns from a nursery or a fresh piece of root from the grocery store. In Ontario’s climate, it is not grown from seed.  See Missouri Botanical Garden’s Armoria rusticana for details. You can buy horseradish root cuttings/crowns from places like Richters or Urban Harvest.

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is related to the mallow family, which includes hollyhock, rose of Sharon and hibiscus (it is also called Hibiscus esculentus) and is native to Ethiopia.  The main difference between red (burgundy) and green okra is the colour. When cooked, red okra loses the red colour, turning green. Plants should be started inside 4-6 weeks before the last frost date or can be planted outside 2-4 weeks after the last frost date. Okra may be hard to germinate from seed – the outer coatings of seeds should be cracked with nail clippers or the seeds should be soaked in water overnight. It takes 2-12 days to germinate.

Several seed suppliers have (green) okra seeds available – see the Canadian Seed Catalogue Index, which lists 36 of these. I located only 3 Canadian sources of red (burgundy) okra.

As well, I found only a few US sources: [although we do not know if there will be any problems shipping seeds across the border]