Oca ta ra a boom today

[Eristic]

Here we go. The netting had blown off some of my oca and caught the frost a bit so I just had to dig one up to see what is happening.


Pity about the heavy frost forecast for tonight as I reckon another 7-10 days is required for a bumper crop. It seems that apart from the cluster of tubers around the base of the plant, it makes one or two more whereever the stems rest on the ground but as yet these were quite small. Still the proof will be in the eating as they say.

[Eristic]

[Rob08]

That looks like a good harvest Eristic.  Have you tried them yet?  Be curious to know what they taste like.

[Tin Shed]

That looks exciting! The frost has caught the tops of mine, but I haven't lifted any yet. I seem to remember that they have to left for a few days once lifted before eating - must try and remember where the info is.

[Suzanne]

I have grown Oca for the first time and I am going to lift them this weekend. Has anyone tried them yet?? A bit worried re the instructions sent with them - mature for a few days on a sunny windowsill or may be bitter! :-\

But those you have look really good.  :)

[Eristic]

As I have a trayfull of Jerusalem's already in the kitchen I tried just one last night raw and it was sweet and crunchy. This plant definitely has potential but more consideration should be given to frost protection as just one more week would probably have doubled the size of the tubers.

[saddad]

I had a firkle at mine under glass and found some small tubers where the plant had flopped over and touched the ground. Was going to dig them out this weekend, might leave it a little longer then..
:-\

[Suzanne]

Well I harvested the Oca yesterday and got about 50 tubers from 5 plants - not sure whether this is good or not, but I would have been happy if they were new potatoes.

I'll give them a wash and then start trawling the net for recipies. I think I will save some just in case I think they are lovely and want to grow again next year. If I hate them I think they are going in the next seed swap !

[Rob08]

I was doing some reading about oca and apparently they are a popular domestic crop in New Zealand.  There they are roasted like potatoes for roast dinners.  From what I can gather, you can treat them as potatoes except for making chips/french fries - their water content is too high for this.

[saddad]

Apparently Suzanne they are like JA's and regrow from the smallest bits... so eat the best ones!
:)

[silverbirch]

I've seen these in the Real Seed pages, and they look interesting.  Having seen the results, I think I'll give them a go.

[tricia]

Do they have large foliage and take up a lot of space like a PSB? I grew JA's in large tubs this year and have harvested some good-sized tubers. Would it be worth trying ocas in tubs?

Tricia

[Eristic]

Do they have large foliage and take up a lot of space like a PSB?

The foliage is very small but lots of it. They all grew to a little over a foot tall before giving us all a heart attack by flopping down on the ground. The plants are more of a spreader than anything else. I planted mine at 1 foot intervals in one row that finally became one mass of foliage at least 4 ft wide.

To the best of my knowledge no one has grown them in pots but I do not see any reason why they would not do well. Growers in districts prone to early frosts would get the advantage of portability to move the pots into cover when frost was likely. I think it is worth a try but bear in mind they need lots of water.

[tricia]

Thanks Eristic maybe I'll try that. If anyone has two or three small tubers they can spare please pm me. I'll be glad to advance the postage costs.

Tricia

[saddad]

PM me with your Addy Tricia I can see I will have several small spares after I dig them out at the weekend!
;D

[Kea]

We call them yams in New Zealand....I didn't know they had another name.

[seanhawkey]

Hi, I'm new.

Just came back from Peru, last week, where I picked up a bag of oca with the intention of growing them here. I read somewhere that they are completely resistant to blight, which is partly what interests me.

I'm quite surprised it is such a late harvest.
When should they be planted? Any tips?

In Peru the tubers are left out in bright sunshine for a few days, this is considered important to make them nice and sweet.

Any tips on storing them over winter?

Also got a kilo of maize morado - purple maize seed. If anyone is close by to Shoreham By Sea I would be happy to share.

regards

[saddad]

The blight resistance is because they are from a completely different family of plants... I understand about the sunlight. The Purple Maize sound interesting..
Nice Picture... Oh and Welcome to the site!
;D

[Eristic]

Hi and welcome to the site.

We are all learning about the best ways to grow these plants so the best I can do is share my methods and observations. I planted mine in 1ltr pots indoors on 8th Mar 07, visible growth from 1st Apr and planted on the allotment on 6th May. Growing area kept weed free as per normal cultivation, top dressed with manure in Sept and loose netted in Oct. They pretty much looked after themselves.

Slugs and snails had a little nibble at emerging shoots in the spring but otherwise there was no trouble. Some of the tubers show signs of nibble, probably by woodlice but nothing serious.

So far I've only dug a few roots because I'm nosy so not sure of the yield as yet but expect somewhere around 50 tubers per plant. When I dug them up I noticed the ground was very dry so maybe next autumn I will have to stand out in the rain and water them a bit more.

I've grown the pink and red versions and want to get the white and purple colours for comparison. As soon as I've completed the harvest I will write it up with all the photos on my website.

[cornykev]

Hi Sean and welcome to the madhouse.  :P :P   ;D ;D ;D

[lorna]

Welcome to A4A, lots of good ideas from members and they are a friendly lot so pull up a chair.
Lorna