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Post by Tiirsys on Jul 26, 2014 18:19:42 GMT -5
Thank you for posting that video, Billw.
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Post by billw on Jul 31, 2014 22:49:40 GMT -5
108 oca varieties flowered in July. I'm harvesting a lot of seed from second generation crosses now. I have a few new varieties that are incredibly floriferous; one has opened more than 20 new flowers every day since July 5th, which would be enough to produce over 4000 seeds alone. Last year, a variety that opened 20 flowers a week was a top performer. Are any of the rest of you in the US and Canada having any luck with last year's seed?  |
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Post by kevin8715 on Aug 15, 2014 9:05:50 GMT -5
Wow. Your mauka has already passed mine in size. I do have it in 5-gallon pots and one has two plants though. Looks like they prefer cool and wet weather, so hopefully they will grow vigorously in the fall and winter.
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Post by billw on Aug 15, 2014 9:27:35 GMT -5
Yeah, once they get going, they appear to grow very quickly. This one only had half a leaf after it got chewed up and now it is about a foot tall. It is growing faster than mashua cuttings in the same bed and very few things grow faster here than mashua. Thanks again for the seeds! I'll send some cuttings back in the fall if you can use them. Now I just need to find some mauka roja so I can try a little crossing.  |
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Post by kevin8715 on Aug 15, 2014 10:12:29 GMT -5
Don't worry. I was mainly growing them in pots for lots of cuttings and babying them due to rarity. In the fall I will plant lots in ground from cuttings. I would though like dibs on the mauka roja if you get that one.
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Post by billw on Aug 25, 2014 15:26:34 GMT -5
The leaves on the mauka seedlings are growing much larger than those on the asexually propagated mauka blanca plant:  That's a regular 8 1/2 x 11" paper for the background. |
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Post by khoomeizhi on Aug 25, 2014 17:08:07 GMT -5
would love to get some mauka, either seed or cuttings, when and if it's possible. got a single $25 cutting from sacred succulents after striking out everywhere else and i couldn't keep the bedamned thing alive.
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Post by kevin8715 on Aug 25, 2014 19:10:36 GMT -5
would love to get some mauka, either seed or cuttings, when and if it's possible. got a single $25 cutting from sacred succulents after striking out everywhere else and i couldn't keep the bedamned thing alive. Don't worry. I am in contact with the original source of seeds for Bill and me. I will post here as soon as I get word. Probably fall this year or spring next year. |
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Post by billw on Aug 25, 2014 21:14:28 GMT -5
I'm planning to try to get a seed crop over the winter, but at this point I'm pretty confident that I'll have enough to be able to at least offer some cuttings Oct/Nov.
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Post by kevin8715 on Aug 25, 2014 21:34:22 GMT -5
I might be able to have cuttings to trade. They have lots of growing points right now. Mine were selected a bit in the summer weather of the best 3 of 8.
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Post by kevin8715 on Aug 25, 2014 21:37:37 GMT -5
I'm planning to try to get a seed crop over the winter, but at this point I'm pretty confident that I'll have enough to be able to at least offer some cuttings Oct/Nov. Have you tried rootting some? I tried with one cutting but after a week it hasn't rooted in water. I will try rooting powder later in a potting mix probably. |
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Post by steev on Aug 25, 2014 21:55:58 GMT -5
What is mauka good for, besides leaves? I get the impression that it would resent hot, dry, windy or cold, dry, windy, which pretty much precludes my farm. Would it be a tuberous gopher attractant?
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Post by billw on Aug 25, 2014 22:26:58 GMT -5
Steev - Not enough experience yet to say if it would handle your conditions. It seems pretty resistant to wind and is reputed to be more heat tolerant than many of the Andean crops. All parts are edible. Leaves and stems are tasty. I haven't had it long enough to try the roots.
Orflo is the expert on mauka. Maybe he will wander by.
Kevin - I took three cuttings and rooted them in damp soil. Two lived, one died. So, it doesn't appear to be particularly difficult.
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Post by billw on Aug 29, 2014 1:12:37 GMT -5
Today we passed 300 varieties of oca that have flowered this year! I told several people, but they just looked at me blankly, so I thought I would share it with you.  artcwiki.cultivariable.com/index.php/Oca_Flowering_Report_2014 I've been surprised by how close the ratio of short to mid styled varieties has remained to 1:1. I've also noticed that crosses with the same parents have very consistent timing of flower initiation in some cases. It will be fun to crunch the numbers this winter and see what sorts of patterns emerge. |
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Post by billw on Aug 29, 2014 12:52:22 GMT -5
The huge mashua on the left is a single plant grown from an 8 inch tuber. Mashua grows much larger when given something to climb - in this case it is climbing a six foot fence and crawling over the top, with some vines more than ten feet long. We grow most of ours without trellising and they only grow to be perhaps 1/5th the size of that plant. This is as big as it will get, since I'm about to cut it back to make room for the other mashuas in the same bed.  |
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