I agree with Dawn in that spacing depends on many factors, especially soil. This year, I planted a row with spacing about 4", with the plants in a shallow trough for watering. I turn on my drip system (more like a flood system) and water them all in about 3 minutes.
I've gotten good production from plants with somewhat scanty foliage. Okra is crazy like that, the big bushy healthy looking plants don't necessarily produce all that well IMHO.
As an aside, this we began using "square foot gardening" techniques in earnest. I'm not totally sold on it yet, but it does have some advantages. We border our beds with cinder blocks, placed on end so there there are two holes in which you could on a lark thrown some dirt in and plant something.
For the heck of it we planted a few okra seeds. They all did very well but one of them is unbelievable, a plant with a 2-inch diameter trunk that produces 1/4- 1/2 lb a day every day.
The wife is not sure if maybe she tossed some extra fertilizer in there or what, but we are thinking that planting in the cinder block holes might be a good thing.
To sum up, okra is the kind of plant that rescues unfortunate gardeners. No matter how sucky your tomatoes are doing, not matter how thin your peppers or pathetic your corn, okra always finds a way to produce and give you SOMETHING for all the work you put in. So HERE's to OKRA!
