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Post by orflo on Dec 19, 2014 4:26:33 GMT -5
Iva, your harvest looks good, especially for the middle of Europe! The one on the left is amarillo, it's a bit more yellow than orange. The red one on the bottom picture is probably red mexican, I lost that one some years ago, mice seem to prefer some varieties and this one is among these varieties. But I don't have any complaints, Over 60 varieties are still going strong an dproduced lots of seeds this year.
Bill, yes, that Pink Dragon is very god, isn't it? It was the first one that came out of seeds in Europe (at least in recetn times), and it's still the best one, together with that 014. The seeds for the Pink Dragon were grown by Ben of Realseeds, he sent some to Owen and me as well, and I was really lucky to have that one emerging from these seeds. And that started it all...I constantly have very good harvests from this one, the seeds came out of a cross from two out of these three varieties: white, red and orange. The first two are still the better producers in my garden, together with some varieties from New Zealand. Maybe I'll give a seperate place for these better producing varieties next year, just to obtain some more seeds that have the best genetic background.
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Post by iva on Dec 21, 2014 4:36:56 GMT -5
Thank you so much for all the info, Frank, I'll make notes! Would you like me to send you a few tubers from Mexican Red to replace the one you've lost? I'd be more than glad to...
It is my favorite as far as taste goes. And also makes the largest tubers,which makes me happy.
In the future, I would like to try growing some oca from seed, but I know that that takes practice and some skills...
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Post by kevin8715 on Dec 21, 2014 21:10:12 GMT -5
billwMy mauka is flowering; took a rather quick look but looks like all three. Will try to get a photo tomorrow.
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Post by Tiirsys on Dec 23, 2014 13:00:52 GMT -5
Some wonderful pictures!
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Post by kevin8715 on Dec 23, 2014 13:33:19 GMT -5
First picture online of mauka flowering in N. America posted online? I know the Rhizowen blog has a photo up.  |
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Post by billw on Dec 23, 2014 13:44:51 GMT -5
Awesome, Kevin! From seed to seed in one year, hopefully. It's definitely the first North American mauka flower picture that I've seen and you still have room to claim the first in-focus North American mauka flower picture.  Lowland California is definitely the place to be for plants that flower in the winter. I think mine took too much frost damage to do any flowering this year. I'm building a permanent cold frame for next year so that they can grow in a protected location without transplanting at the end of the season. Hopefully that will make it possible to produce seed up here. |
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Post by billw on Dec 23, 2014 16:30:00 GMT -5
Some of Frank/orflo's ocas. The pictures show the best single plant harvest of each variety, except for Pink Dragon. Pink Dragon:  006:  015:  1101:  1102:  1109:  1111: (Best of the long-styled varieties. A little tendency to crack in wet soil.)  1113:  1119 (I think):  1128:  1133:  Black: This one tested positive for a virus (produced lesions on quinoa after inoculation), although I'm not sure which. I'm trying to clean it up over the winter.  |
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Post by orflo on Dec 27, 2014 13:29:30 GMT -5
Here's some more oca and mashua, the mashua was gigantic this year, and seeds have formed as well:  andean tubers (1 van 3) by orflo, on Flickr and the same things, together with a yacon tuber (more on that in another topic) and a three year old mauka (and yes, the ocas are about 12 cms long, so that mauka dwarfs them completely):  andean tubers (3 van 3) by orflo, on Flickr |
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Post by billw on Dec 27, 2014 15:34:07 GMT -5
Wow! That mauka root is impressive.
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Post by jondear on Dec 27, 2014 18:45:14 GMT -5
Those have a great punch of color!
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Post by Tiirsys on Dec 30, 2014 20:35:29 GMT -5
Wow, indeed! Those are all huge!
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Post by kevin8715 on Jan 2, 2015 19:52:49 GMT -5
Mauka got burned enough that seed won't be formed this year. Though looks like it will pull through and bounce back hopefully when the freezes stop. Seedlings are fine for now ...
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Post by jeremy on Jan 6, 2015 17:46:05 GMT -5
Hi everyone, Great thread, Bill! Fresh off my first post in the welcome thread, I wanted to pop in and share a few pictures of my Oca harvest from 2014. I'd been wanting to try Oca for years, but didn't believe I'd be able to get away with it in my Southeast Michigan climate. Last Winter I got it in my head that it might work out after all so 2014 was my first Oca trial. My tubers started out in 2.5 quart pots and were supposed to be transplanted into the ground in my small hoop house following my garlic harvest in July, but that didn't end up happening. So instead my Oca spent all year in their little pots, sometimes being well cared for and sometimes being neglected. Some of the plants didn't make it, for one reason or another, but most did fine. All things considered I was very pleased with my harvest and am really looking forward to an in-ground grow next year (the hoop house will be available in the Spring, this time.) So here is what I started and ended with. The coloration is very different - is this because my tubers (pictures were immediately after harvest) weren't given any sunshine?       |
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Post by philagardener on Jan 6, 2015 19:10:27 GMT -5
Welcome, jeremy ! Those look great for your climate! Thanks for joining us and sharing your experiences! |
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Post by billw on Jan 6, 2015 19:37:55 GMT -5
Nice! That gives you plenty of planting material for this year, so you can experiment. You are correct that the color difference is due to the length of time out of the ground. You don't really need to expose them to the sun; after a couple of months, they'll darken anyway. It looks like Rosy Gems/OAEC Pink did pretty well for you. It seems like everyone but me gets a good yield from that one, which may mean it likes a bit more heat. Sunset is always a winner. I'm surprised White didn't do more.
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