Growing Oca

[marjeta]

Nice blog, Ian. I'd like to follow it but can't find where to click...

[raymondo]

Now that we are past the autumnal equinox, days seem to be shortening rapidly. I will use some frost protection on my oca this year. If I get enough tubers to sow again next year, I'll start early again indoors (that was a great suggestion Frank - it worked well) and then around mid-February I'll try the black plastic covering to imitate much shorter days. Thanks again Frank.
I would definitely like to get a decent crop but after that, I think I'll give oca a miss. As Ian suggested, best to stick to what does well here without so much work. I'll continue following the threads though. Perhaps one day there'll be a variety or two that is not daylentgh sensitive.

[atash]

I'm at 47.5 degrees north latitude, and I can get them to tuber by November, which I think would correspond to May in your part of the the world. My only problem is to get them harvested promptly, because frost could start that time of year. They tolerate a fair amount of frost, but a hard prolonged freeze (such as we had last year unusually early) will get the tubers. I could try mulching, but best bet is to just harvest them promptly and get them to a safe root cellar.

[raymondo]

Problem here atash is that frosts usually begin in April and by May are daily. It's a function of being inland and at altitude. Less than 100 miles east of here, towards the coast and much lower down, same latitude though, they get no frost at all. They grow good bananas. We grow good garlic. Hmmm...I must see if they are able to grow oca down there.

[ianpearson]

Thanks Margeta - I've installed a 'following' widget.

Raymondo, what you need is a computer-controlled LCD polytunnel. . The day will come!

[atash]

The Oca is finally starting to sprout.

Gotta find a spot for it. I was going to put it in the front yard, then decided it might do better with less aggressive neighbors.

[robertb]

Mine's been in for a while, but there's no sign of it yet. A rabbit had a go at the chinese artichokes next to it, but the oca hadn't been touched as of yesterday. We just get the occasional one coming along the canal or the railway in very cold weather, but with cats, foxes and buzzards about they tend not to last too long.

[rhizowen]

I have had some success with getting ocas to set seed - you can read all about it here:
radix4roots.blogspot.com/search/label/Oca%20Seed%20Pods

I'm hopeful that it will be possible to select shorter season varieties that tuberise earlier in the year. I'm working on it.

[marjeta]

rhizowen, I hope you've overcome your illness.

The spoon full of seeds looks amazing... or better - it's amazing what will grow from them.

[atash]

Raymondo, I've heard about how frosty Australia can be inland and at even modest elevations. Temperature falls with elevation faster in the southern hemisphere than in the northern, and your relatively dry air probably doesn't hold heat well at night.

OTOH, a lot of plants from the snowier parts of southern NSW and even Tasmania can sometimes be frustratingly tender for me, because although it gets cold enough to snow, the climate is so stable from year to year the native plants can't stand a winter just a little more severe than what they're used to!

Off-topic, but I am EXTREMELY interested in Ozzie garlics!! You have a couple of day-neutral garlics down there that will produce big cloves in the tropics!! I think they are unique in the world. Garlics grown in the Asian tropics are wee, bland things.

Rhizowen, thanks for posting about Oca seed. Dang, mine didn't even flower last year much less set seed! But this year I have ostensibly "multiple varieties". They all look almost identical--except slight variations in how colored they are.

So Oca flowers are yellow? Too bad not something showier. I think it would be great to breed Ocas to be showier (and still edible--I like pretty vegetables I can grow in my front yard without complaints from the neighbors...). They are "almost" but not quite ornamental. Maybe colored leaves like some Oxalis have, would help.

[synergy]

Another eye opening thread for me, having never heard of oca before. It seems there are whole other worlds of food crops to explore we have never seen or tried here that might even grow in a pacific coastal temperate zone 7b ?

[atash]

I got a bumper crop. They tried to bloom twice. Yellow with red veins. Oca seems to be one of the easier of the Andean crops. They do tuber late, but they tuber quickly. I have a picture somewhere of one of the plants I harvested. I might have a look for it later and post it.

I think one of the issues for growing it is how many frost-free days there are left after the equinox.

[spacecase0]

my OCA is just starting to die back, I guess I should go look for tubers

[synergy]

May I ask what do they taste like and in your opinion are they for cooking or raw consumption? Are they primarily for human consumption or are they grown for animal fodder as well?

[atash]

Raw fresh they are sour and taste like Oxalis. Not recommended because the oxalic acid they contain is an "anti-nutrient". Inhibits your body's ability to absorb certain minerals including and especially Calcium I think.

You can cure them in the sun for 1 week to reduce their oxalic acid levels and sweeten them up.

Otherwise you can cook them and then they taste slightly starchy. They are not as starchy as potatoes.

Oh, I should mention: they stay crunchy longer than potatoes do. Some people like that. But it is possible to cook them soft.

I think they are primarily human food.