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Post by billw on Jul 24, 2013 22:12:01 GMT -5
Further observations...
If you want oca seed, wind is your enemy. On days when wind is more than 14MPH, I lose almost triple the amount of pods. They just blow off the plant, even if they are in later stages of development. Those that are within a few days of maturing can be finished in a container and, at least outwardly, appear to produce good seed.
Some varieties have longer flower stalks and those that do are extremely difficult to get mature seed from; they make better pollen donors. This is probably related to the previous item.
So far, it looks like we only have one mid-styled variety and no long-styled varieties in common circulation in the US. The mid-styled variety is Hopin. If you don't have that variety, you probably won't get seed, no matter how many other varieties you have.
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Post by richardw on Jul 25, 2013 1:05:41 GMT -5
Would wind netting help protect the flowers Bill??
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Post by billw on Jul 25, 2013 1:58:07 GMT -5
Would wind netting help protect the flowers Bill?? It probably would! I didn't even know that there was such a thing. I'll look into that. |
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Post by richardw on Jul 25, 2013 13:40:49 GMT -5
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Post by billw on Jul 25, 2013 19:10:03 GMT -5
So far, it looks like we only have one mid-styled variety and no long-styled varieties in common circulation in the US. No sooner did I write that than I got a flower from Amarillo, which also turns out to be mid-styled. Unfortunately, Amarillo aborted almost all the flower buds on every plant I have so far. I have one flower and one green bud; the rest withered away. This is the only variety to do that. I wonder if it might be disease.  |
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Post by billw on Jul 29, 2013 17:05:22 GMT -5
Update. (The read count keeps going up, so I'll assume I am not boring you all to tears.)
I've now done just over 500 crosses. I've lost about half, but that sounds more discouraging than it actually is, because I usually lose them early. As time goes on, there are more and more pods in later stages of maturation, while I continue to lose freshly pollinated flowers every day.
The good news is that, as of today, I have harvested 102 oca seeds from 16 pods.
That give you some idea of the odds - and the amount of work that it takes to get a few seeds.
One of the approaches that I've tried recently to fight loss of seed pods due to wind is cutting 6-8 inch stem pieces that bear the inflorences and growing them indoors in water. So far, this seems to be working very well - I've lost no pods indoors, but only time will tell if the cuttings will survive long enough to mature seed pods. If they do, it will increase my success rate a lot.
Lots of plants are still flowering, but it seems like my mid-styled variety is slowing down. If it stops, that will probably be the end of seed production for the year, since I don't have any other varieties than can cross with each other. Even if that happens, I think I'll get another 50-100 pods out of crosses already completed, so that won't be too bad.
I'd like to get 1000 seeds for big planting next year, plus enough to be able to give some away. If I can get another 200 pods to mature between now and the first frost, I should meet that goal.
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Post by raymondo on Jul 30, 2013 4:50:12 GMT -5
Great work Bill. I'm envious you can grow oca let alone get it to flower and set seed!
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Post by billw on Jul 30, 2013 6:42:41 GMT -5
Heh. Every climate has pluses and minuses. I am envious of people who can grow corn and hot peppers. If there weren't so many conventional crops that I simply don't have enough heat to grow, I might never have tried oca.  |
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Post by richardw on Jul 31, 2013 0:42:40 GMT -5
Potatoes must do well where you are too wouldn't they Bill??
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Post by billw on Jul 31, 2013 10:15:41 GMT -5
Yep, except for the usual challenges with blight in damp places, potatoes are very happy here. They make up about 60% of our garden; we'll grow 1000-1500 pounds in the typical year.
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Post by billw on Aug 2, 2013 1:47:22 GMT -5
Well, it took five weeks to get to 100 seeds, three days to get to 200, and one day to get to 300. I am now pretty confident that I will more than meet my seed goal. Of course, as with any agricultural pursuit, nature could wipe me out tomorrow, but things are looking good.
So, I'd like to offer oca seeds to anyone who wants to try growing them out - the only cost to you will be shipping some tubers back to me if you get something really good. If you are interested, please get in touch and tell me how many plants you would realistically grow next year. Crossing is labor intensive, so I will stop at some point after I meet my goal - I only have space for about 800 plants - but I'll keep at it as long as the plants cooperate if there is demand - make hay while the sun shines, they say. It would be good to spread some of the seed around in case I get wiped out.
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Post by richardw on Aug 2, 2013 3:58:44 GMT -5
Well i could grow you some tubers Bill and i could have some back again in time for your late spring,i have sent tubers to the US before with no problems
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Post by billw on Aug 2, 2013 10:21:07 GMT -5
I figured that you would be on the list, Richard. Let me know how many you can handle. I'm not all that patient so having you grow some while I am staring out at the fields of mud this winter sounds ideal. I'm not sure what the dormancy is on oca seed, but I guess this is one way to test it. |
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Post by richardw on Aug 2, 2013 14:10:28 GMT -5
Ive grown them from seed before, they came from orflo in Belgium they would have come straight from the end of his growing season,i remember it was about this time of year that i grew the seed. I'm going to drop one of the colours i grow because it tends to split badly for some reason,it the only one that does,so i could replace these with yours Bill,i think ten plants enough.  |
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Post by raymondo on Aug 2, 2013 16:56:07 GMT -5
What are the seeds like? I've never seen oca seed.
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