Oca

[Bex]

Has anyone tried Oca? I'm just browsing the Marshalls Autumn catalogue and it looks interesting but pricey. Is it worth the outlay?

Thanks guys

[Nicos]

I've got some in a couple of pots.
Never grown them before....they look a bit like giant clover plants at the moment!

Never eaten one so I can't say!

[meteor]

Bex I grew them along with other "Peruvian veg" yacon and mashua last year, of the three I liked Oca the best. I bought several varieties from Real Seeds and all did very well and best of all no pests or diseases bothered them. I did get a little concerned when I had a quick root about in August but could see no tubers but all the growth was put on in September/November and I did not harvest until the frost frost blackened the foliage and ended up with a fine crop. I diced them raw and they gave a citrus tang to winter salads and boiled them like potatoes having a nutty flavour and keep better in storage than spuds. As you say the initial outlay is a bit pricey but that's it then, you can save tubers for the next crop. I intended to sow a lot more of them this year but like a lot of my plans for 2015 it didn't happen so I'll have to start from scratch next season, I don't think the tubers I saved will be viable next spring. In the attached pic oca are the middle crop with the clover/sorrel like leaves, yacon in the background and foreground with the nasturtium like leaves are the mashua

[veggiechicken]

I've been growing them for several years as ground cover. Not deliberately - I just forget to dig them up in winter. They look pretty too.
As for eating them, crisp, lemony, need a lot to make a plateful!

[meteor]

I should have added, as veggiechicken says, you need to grow a lot to make it worthwhile

[sparrow100]

It depends how many tubers you want to have. I have 8 tubers going. On last year's growing that should give me about 5kg of oca which is an ample return for us to get through.

They are hungry plants that I treat like spuds - feed them well and earth them up a bit. And make sure you leave the plants for 2-3 weeks after the killing frost (not just when frost initially kills the tops) so that the tubers have every opportunity to fatten. They can sit in the soil till you need them, but mice like a good munch. I took mine up in January this year and tubers ranged in size from 1cm to 10cm.

You can eat the leaves too - they taste like sorrel but are prettier and less slugged. There is an oca breeders FB page and 2 really good websites if you want to read up on growing them: Radix and Growing Oca

I'm trying late-planted oca (July) with large saved tubers this year to see what I get. Remind me in January and I can probably send you over a few tubers to start off with - I have pink&white and peach as varieties. (you too Meteor, if you want some)

[Bex]

I'm trying late-planted oca (July) with large saved tubers this year to see what I get. Remind me in January and I can probably send you over a few tubers to start off with - I have pink&white and peach as varieties. (you too Meteor, if you want some)

Sparrow, that is very kind of you. I'll try and remember and take you up on that kind offer.

Thank you all for your advice, you've convinced me to give them a go.

[meteor]

I'm trying late-planted oca (July) with large saved tubers this year to see what I get. Remind me in January and I can probably send you over a few tubers to start off with - I have pink&white and peach as varieties. (you too Meteor, if you want some)

Thanks for the offer sparrow, I might just take you up on that. Those links were very informative, I managed to get some Yacon in again this year (very late though early August but I had them growing on in large pots first) but I had no real idea last year what to do with them once harvested, lots of ideas on those websites though. They are propagated with growing tips instead of the tubers which grew to enormous sizes last year. I should have a few to swap with you or anybody else who may like to try a couple.
cheers

[burnie]

I spotted these yesterday on the Real Seeds website, so many things to grow and so little space, I was discouraged by the comment about late maturing and "not for you" if you get early frosts. I'm in Scotland so figured only to be grown inside?

[sparrow100]

Perhaps - I have some of mine in a 40L bag of compost that will go in the greenhouse when the toms are over with, just to delay the killing frost. They are daylight sensitive so will start tuberising as days get shorter, with maximum tuber growth in the time around the frosts. That's why it doesn't really matter if you plant them out in summer rather than spring.

They tried growing them in pots on Beechgrove last year which would have given you a comparator, but Carole unfortunately didn't have/read the growing instructions and pulled them up in the October programme. Naturally they had awful results.

[Ger-annie-um]

We grow Oca too and I agree with all the advice above......definately don't harvest until a few weeks after the first frost. We start them off in pots and then plant out when we see signs of growth. And, if anyone wants some, I'll have plenty we've been saving tubers for replanting and always have too many.