Oca

[zeezeezed]

Has anyone had any experience/luck with growing Oca?

I fancy having a go as an alternative to potatoes - neither me or the OH are big spud eaters

I just thought Id ask before I splashed out on some tubers lol

x

[Flummery]

I grew some the year before last - a gift from someone here - and I got a great crop. Did the same last year - absolutely nothing! I did enjoy the flavour though. I think they need rather more water than I was able to give them last year. We have no water on the site other than an underground tank which soon emptied.

[zeezeezed]

Sounds promising Flummery Thankyou!

We are lucky enough to have mains water on the lottie so it could well be a go-er

x

[Flummery]

They taste a bit lemony - I used them lightly cooked but my favourite way to eat them was in salad, like a radish. Good luck with them!

[gojiberry]

I think one or two people have had success with them. You might also like to try Jerusalem artichokes as an alternative to potatoes. They are absolutely superb as chips.

Ian

[timethatthetaleweretold]

Hi zeezeed,
I'm glad you started this thread cos I've got a question about ocas too.
(hope it's ok to ask them on your thread...)

I got some ocas off ebay in January.
The seller advised that i start them off in pots indoors to give them a head start.

So I chucked a couple of them in pots in a propagator and after a month little stalks popped up. As the clover-looking leaves appeared I put the plants in an unheated conservatory. The colder conservatory seems to have speeded up their growth.

The stalks look a bit too delicate for outside.

My question is (to anyone who has grown ocas):
Is it ok to "earth up" the ocas, covering up stalks and leaves when you put them in the ground?


P.S. For anyone planning to buy ocas: THe ones i received in the post looked surprisingly small, shrivelled and unpromising-looking. I had immediately thrown a couple of them away. But in retrospect they were probably fine. I guess seed ocas can just look like that (could be the seller was sending me their dregs, but even oca dregs seem to be pretty vigourous!).

[zeezeezed]

Hey no problem!

It doesnt seem like a popular crop, but Im going to give them a bash!

Ill let you know how I get on and thanks for the tip about the shrivelled ones

[Flummery]

Don't plant them out till after your last frost date - they are tender. I started mine in the greenhouse in pots in April and planted them in early June.

[snohare]

Is it ok to "earth up" the ocas, covering up stalks and leaves when you put them in the ground?

I'd give an unequivocal yes. But it might depend on how well developed the plants are.

At the end of the season last year (I've only grown them twice) I covered them in soil for a few weeks, and once again seemed to get a better crop.
Then this February when digging over I found the remains of two stems I had dug in while harvesting. They had turned into strings of tiny tubers - the stem itself had changed form into tuberous materiel, and was sprouting lumps despite being above ground originally. That probably accounts for the improved harvest.
I'm inclined to think the tubers are pretty hardy, since mine seemed to survive minus umpteen, but the differently coloured varieties might be different ?
I'm not planning on growing them in any great quantity as they are high in oxalates, and I am prone to kidney stones. Nice lemony taste though.

[timethatthetaleweretold]

I'd give an unequivocal yes. But it might depend on how well developed the plants are.

At the end of the season last year (I've only grown them twice) I covered them in soil for a few weeks, and once again seemed to get a better crop.
Then this February when digging over I found the remains of two stems I had dug in while harvesting. They had turned into strings of tiny tubers - the stem itself had changed form into tuberous materiel, and was sprouting lumps despite being above ground originally. .

Thanks for the tip.
I'm going to "earth up" my ocas in their pots, covering up some more of the stalk and a few little leaves with compost.

All your those experiences you describe is what makes the idea of ocas so fascinating. We're pioneers! (although there are Andean peasants who might disagree...)

[rana]

Like timethatthetaleweretold I recently got some Oca tubers from ebay. They also were less robust looking than I was expecting. I have planted 3 little tubers per 6" pot and stuck them in the greenhouse. Don't know if they will come to anything as it is my first time growing them.

[Sylvan]

Don't plant them out till after your last frost date - they are tender. I started mine in the greenhouse in pots in April and planted them in early June.

Oh dear.

Mine have been in pots on the doorstep for a couple of weeks. They have frozen solid several times.

[Flummery]

Frost kills them off in autumn/early winter. After that the thick sappy stems die back and the tubers continue to increase in size for a month or so. But the frost kills the grow off. I planted mine in pots in the greenhouse in April.

[timethatthetaleweretold]

I planted mine in pots in the greenhouse in April.

I'm sure Flummery is absolutely right to start ocas in April.
But I took the advice of my ebay dealer and started mine really early.

My question is:

Do Ocas require protection from the sun?

I've read that they tolerate shade, but I'm concerned that they might actually need shade.

I've put my first one out in the garden in a sunny position. It's covered by a cloche at night.
But during the day the leaves fold up when it's sunny and warm. (sign of stress?)

I've put a wooden fruit box over the top as a mini-shadehouse.
This causes it to unfold its leaves and look unstressed.

Will ocas need shading all summer long?

Thanks to any oca experts.

[snohare]

Nope !
Fairly safe to say, on the slopes of the Andes these plants get a whole lot more UV and the associated damage to leaves, than they ever will in our neck of the woods, particularly at this time of the year. But in any case, normally what causes damage to plants is the leaf temperature rising too high - unless the temperature where you are is already that of the very height of a hot summer, I cannot see the leaf temperature rising so much.
If they were really stressed by sunlight, they would wilt, rather than fold up, I'd say. My guess is that when you are shading them, the reason the leaves come out is to make up for the lack of sunlight !
But I ain't no oca expert, and it's not like we get blazing hot noonday sun here in Aberdeen...!