Lettuce

Lactuca sativa

Asteraceae

Okra

Abelmoschus esculentus

Malvaceae

Can you plant lettuce and okra together?

Yes. Lettuce and okra grow well together. A shared bed gave about 9% more harvest than separate beds in one field trial. That rests on a single study, so treat it as a lead, not a rule.

Why lettuce and okra work together

More harvest from the same bed. In one field trial, a bed with both crops gave about 9% more harvest than the same space split into a lettuce bed and a okra bed.
Effect of intercropping on the performance of some summer vegetable crops grown under different row arrangements (Hadidi · 2011)
Garden charts recommend it. 2 garden chart entries recommend growing them together. Charts pass on gardening tradition; they are not tests.
Effect of intercropping on the performance of some summer vegetable crops grown under different row arrangements (Hadidi · 2011 · Lucrări ştiinţifice)

What to plant with lettuce and okra

Good neighbours of both, best tested first.

BeanWith lettuce: 48% more harvestWith okra: 25% more harvest
Squash & pumpkinWith lettuce: 10% more harvestWith okra: About the same harvest

How each one was tested, with the evidence

What to keep away from lettuce and okra

CeleryWith lettuce: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
ParsleyWith lettuce: Garden charts advise against it, not tested

The evidence in detail

For readers who want to dig in: every chart entry, study and yield trial behind the answer above, with the numbers.

Tradition, research and yield trials

Tradition

Good

avoidgood

2 chart entries: 2 recommend, 0 advise against.

All entries cite a source.

Research

No papers found on this pair.

Yield trial

Good

No per-crop split reported in these trials.

1 field trial. Published LERs lean high.

Good neighbours

What happens above and below ground

Each animation illustrates a mechanism a study reported for this pair. Pick a card to focus on it.

Everything at once.

What is going on (1)

Pick a card to spotlight its animation in the scene.

Lettuce OkraMedian land equivalent ratio 1.09 over 1 trial: growing them together gave 1.09 times the harvest of two separate plots of the same size.

Partial LERs (medians): Lettuce 0.55 + Okra 0.55. Range across treatments 1.01 to 1.16. Medians are taken separately, so the parts need not add up to the median LER. LER above 1 is biased upward by publication bias.

Yield trialfield trial x1

Effect of intercropping on the performance of some summer vegetable crops grown under different row arrangements (Hadidi · 2011)

Tradition saysGood

2 gardening-lore entries. Lore is a starting point, not proof.

Effect of intercropping on the performance of some summer vegetable crops grown under different row arrangements (Hadidi · 2011 · Lucrări ştiinţifice)

Companion plants for both lettuce and okra

Plants that are good neighbours of each. Biggest harvest gain first; each cell links to the evidence for that pair.

Plant	With lettuce	With okra
Bean	48% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 2 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for lettuce and beans	25% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 2 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for okra and beans
Squash & pumpkin	10% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: not listed.Evidence for lettuce and squash	About the same harvest as separate bedsField trial, 1 study. Charts: recommend.Evidence for okra and squash

Harvest from the same space compares a bed with both crops against the same area split into single-crop beds, counting the harvest of both crops (the land equivalent ratio in yield trials).

The evidence, with sources

Yield trialGood1 entry

GoodLER 1.09field trial

Jordan, 2007; Replacement design; median LER 1.09 over 4 treatment(s)
Effect of intercropping on the performance of some summer vegetable crops grown under different row arrangements (Hadidi · 2011)

TraditionGood2 entries

GoodLettuce helps Okra
Lettuce: helps okra
Effect of intercropping on the performance of some summer vegetable crops grown under different row arrangements (Hadidi · 2011 · Lucrări ştiinţifice)
GoodLettuce helps Okra
Okra: helped by lettuce
Effect of intercropping on the performance of some summer vegetable crops grown under different row arrangements (Hadidi · 2011 · Lucrări ştiinţifice)

Plan a bed with lettuce and okra

All neighbours of lettuce and of okra, or every pair at once in the companion planting chart.

Have you grown lettuce and okra together?

Tell other gardeners what happened: spacing, pests, harvest, or ask a question. Reader notes are not checked by us and do not change the verdicts on this page.