Lady's Finger

I am growing two different varieties of Lady's Finger (Okra as it is called in this part of the world).

These are the "Red Okra" seeds i bought from Peaceful Valley Farms. The pods are really long and seem to be doing well.

I planted them in the corners of the beds where I am growing my Tomatoes and they seem to be fighting for space. I did not have good germination rates in some spots and really good germination percentages in other spots on the planter bed.

Last week, I spotted a some ants crawling on the plant and saw this on the flowers. Scales maybe?
In any case, I sprayed them with a liberal dose of my cure all remedy- NEEM, but it does not seem to have much impact. Has anyone had similar issues with Lady's Finger (Okra) and used any

The Green ones were purchased from "Seeds of India" and seem to be of an interesting kind.

The ones above are some of the larger pods that I was able to harvest.

The interesting thing is that the pods are growing out of a plant that is really TINY !

Is it because my soil is too rich or is this a dwarf variety (the seed packet did not offer much insight), and until I find out otherwise I will claim that it is because my veggie garden is on steroids (compost steroids).