When plants are healthy and actively growing 5-inch pods are usually tender and acceptable. To achieve maximum yields the pods must be harvested every other day. Most pods are ready for harvesting 4 to 6 days after the bloom opens. Pods may be cut with a knife or snapped off by hand. Cutting is slower, but produces a nicer product.
Most people are sensitive to the small spines on okra and often get a rash or itch.
When harvesting, pickers should be provided with gloves and wear long sleeves and long pants for protection. Some experimental plantings have yielded as high as 10 tons. A bushel basket of okra weighs 30 to 35 pounds net. After the market price drops in the late spring, cutting back okra will allow the plant to rejuvenate and produce a fall crop. Fall yields of cutback crops will often exceed spring crops or yield of noncutback crops.