Author Topic: Oca Ahoy!.... Thanks to Jayb (Read 15999 times)

chriscross1966 · « **Reply #20 on:** October 25, 2009, 23:37:33 »

Hows everyone doing?... I fleeced over mine during the recent few cold nights and they've come through fine.... I should have sown the catch-crop beets and radishes earlier ( as soon as I earthed up) as I don't think I left them enough time and the Oca is now growing back towards the centre again....

chrisc

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #21 on:** October 26, 2009, 20:12:52 »

Mine was very slightly knocked back by frost, but it's doing fine. It covered the spaces between plants long ago.

Twoflower · « **Reply #22 on:** October 26, 2009, 20:23:30 »

Mine is still growing ok. When do i get to eat it? :)

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #23 on:** October 26, 2009, 21:13:15 »

Don't lift it until the foliage has died back completely. that's what I was told, anyway. I'm leaving mine till December, unless we get some hard frosts that knock it back early.

Jayb · « **Reply #24 on:** October 27, 2009, 12:10:09 »

I agree with Robert, to leave them for as long as possible. They don't start forming tubers til' late on, when daylight hours have dropped. Its a bit of a balance between getting a decent harvest and losing to them frost.

Jayb · « **Reply #25 on:** October 27, 2009, 12:12:20 »

Having said that I did have a bit of a firkle this morning, when I was moving some unruly stems over a bit. There were some pea-ish size tubers starting to form on the stems (above ground) and about 3-4cm tubers in the ground. Must admit I didn't look too far, just good to know they are forming ;)

chriscross1966 · « **Reply #26 on:** October 27, 2009, 13:16:02 »

You don't lift them until 2 weeks after the frost has killed the tops off... there is no toss up between the frost and the crop... the frost kills off the top growth (actually what it does is it signals to the plant that the plant needs to kill the top growth). Then even though the top growth looks dead do not cut it down etc, the plant pulls all the nutrients out of the top growth and forms the tubers... if you lift straight after the frost then all there'll be is the pea sized tuber nodes, two weeks later they will have swollen up with all the goodness from the tops....

Summary: let them run utnill the frosts kill them off (but you'd like to try and make that late November if possible with fleece)... leave em a couple of weeks then go looking for the harvest.....

chrisc

Twoflower · « **Reply #27 on:** October 27, 2009, 13:22:52 »

Thanks I'll leave them be :) can't you tell I'm the one rattling the Christmas presents before Christmas ;D

thifasmom · « **Reply #28 on:** October 28, 2009, 01:40:29 »

i moved my two surviving plants into the greenhouse today to help protect them from frosty weather, was this the wrong thing to do then? ???

i also did the same with my ulluca and the yukon plants, again was this the wrong thing to do?

chriscross1966 · « **Reply #29 on:** October 28, 2009, 03:21:05 »

Quote from: thifasmom on October 28, 2009, 01:40:29

i moved my two surviving plants into the greenhouse today to help protect them from frosty weather, was this the wrong thing to do then? ???

i also did the same with my ulluca and the yukon plants, again was this the wrong thing to do?

If they were in pots then it was a sensible thing to do, if not then you doomed, DOOMED I say....or maybe not....where's saddad when we need him?

thifasmom · « **Reply #30 on:** October 28, 2009, 09:11:27 »

Quote from: chriscross1966 on October 28, 2009, 03:21:05

Quote from: thifasmom on October 28, 2009, 01:40:29
i moved my two surviving plants into the greenhouse today to help protect them from frosty weather, was this the wrong thing to do then? ???

i also did the same with my ulluca and the yukon plants, again was this the wrong thing to do?

If they were in pots then it was a sensible thing to do, if not then you doomed, DOOMED I say....or maybe not....where's saddad when we need him?

;D yes they are in pots so DOOMED I'm not :). so since frost won't be a factor in finishing them off, when will i know when to dig them up ???.

chriscross1966 · « **Reply #31 on:** October 29, 2009, 01:02:24 »

Quote from: thifasmom on October 28, 2009, 09:11:27

Quote from: chriscross1966 on October 28, 2009, 03:21:05
Quote from: thifasmom on October 28, 2009, 01:40:29
i moved my two surviving plants into the greenhouse today to help protect them from frosty weather, was this the wrong thing to do then? ???

i also did the same with my ulluca and the yukon plants, again was this the wrong thing to do?

If they were in pots then it was a sensible thing to do, if not then you doomed, DOOMED I say....or maybe not....where's saddad when we need him?

I'd put them bacjk out to let the frost get them 2-3 weeks before you want to eat them.... offbeat food to serve the family at xmas?... dunno... you could be lead experimenter to see what happens if they don't get knocked down

:D

;D yes they are in pots so DOOMED I'm not :). so since frost won't be a factor in finishing them off, when will i know when to dig them up ???.

saddad · « **Reply #32 on:** October 29, 2009, 07:46:34 »

My Oca are in the big greenhouse border... so I dig them when I want them after the start of December, although if this weather keeps up I might have to actually cut off the foliage!
Don't expect me to know... Eristic is your man for advice. My Ulluca got swamped... my Yacon is about 7' tall... and I don't know what to do with it when I eventually dig up the tubers... ???

Jayb · « **Reply #33 on:** October 29, 2009, 08:36:22 »

Thifasmom, keeping them in the greenhouse now will give a little more protection and keep them growing for a little longer. I grow most of mine in a polytunnel. Oca and Ulluco only start forming tubers when day length hours fall below 12 hours. So if the foliage were killed by frost early in the Autumn you would have less of a harvest, as they just have not had time to produce.

So to a point, the longer you can keep them growing for the bigger the harvest. Unless your greenhouse is heated frost will eventually kill off the foliage, the tubers are still growing at this time so if you wait a further 2 weeks they will have increased in size further.

When to pick? The Oca should have started to form tubers now and if the mild weather continues ;D, I know if, then I'd leave them as long as you can. I'm hoping to harvest Dec/Jan weather permitting. Altough I'm going to pull a couple of plants while they are still green say mid Nov to compare harvest size and eating quality

Ulluco I've found produce slightly later (or they do for me) and best not to move the foliage too much as they also send down little shoots from which tubers form. I'll be harvesting same time as oca.

Yacon's not day length sensitive, as you have them in bags it may be possible to check by hand if tubers are large enough to harvest. If the compost is still loose it may be possible to just pull off a tuber from the main bunch to try. Eristic had some a nice photo of a pot grown yacon he harvested not long ago

Jayb · « **Reply #34 on:** October 29, 2009, 08:49:23 »

Quote from: saddad on October 29, 2009, 07:46:34

my Yacon is about 7' tall... and I don't know what to do with it when I eventually dig up the tubers... ???

Eat it ;D

Once dug up I've been storing mine in damp compost and they can last for ages, I've still got some from last year's harvest! Two types of tubers, small ones to be kept and restarted in the spring and the larger eating ones. You need to peel them which is easy and they can then be eaten raw, in hand,and added to salads etc. Or you can have them cooked, they don't have much of a flavour on there own but stay crispy, like water chestnuts. Nice in stirfries curries and boiled.

Let us know what you think :)

saddad · « **Reply #35 on:** October 29, 2009, 15:44:18 »

That's what I thought I'd remembered...
I like Water Chesnuts and stir-fry is popular here...
:)

thifasmom · « **Reply #36 on:** October 29, 2009, 22:33:26 »

Quote from: chriscross1966 on October 29, 2009, 01:02:24

Quote from: thifasmom on October 28, 2009, 09:11:27
Quote from: chriscross1966 on October 28, 2009, 03:21:05
Quote from: thifasmom on October 28, 2009, 01:40:29
i moved my two surviving plants into the greenhouse today to help protect them from frosty weather, was this the wrong thing to do then? ???

i also did the same with my ulluca and the yukon plants, again was this the wrong thing to do?

If they were in pots then it was a sensible thing to do, if not then you doomed, DOOMED I say....or maybe not....where's saddad when we need him?

;D yes they are in pots so DOOMED I'm not :). so since frost won't be a factor in finishing them off, when will i know when to dig them up ???.

I'd put them bacjk out to let the frost get them 2-3 weeks before you want to eat them.... offbeat food to serve the family at xmas?... dunno... you could be lead experimenter to see what happens if they don't get knocked down

:D

Chris ;D what are you like :).

Quote from: Jayb on October 29, 2009, 08:36:22

Thifasmom, keeping them in the greenhouse now will give a little more protection and keep them growing for a little longer. I grow most of mine in a polytunnel. Oca and Ulluco only start forming tubers when day length hours fall below 12 hours. So if the foliage were killed by frost early in the Autumn you would have less of a harvest, as they just have not had time to produce.

So to a point, the longer you can keep them growing for the bigger the harvest. Unless your greenhouse is heated frost will eventually kill off the foliage, the tubers are still growing at this time so if you wait a further 2 weeks they will have increased in size further.

When to pick? The Oca should have started to form tubers now and if the mild weather continues ;D, I know if, then I'd leave them as long as you can. I'm hoping to harvest Dec/Jan weather permitting. Altough I'm going to pull a couple of plants while they are still green say mid Nov to compare harvest size and eating quality

Ulluco I've found produce slightly later (or they do for me) and best not to move the foliage too much as they also send down little shoots from which tubers form. I'll be harvesting same time as oca.

Yacon's not day length sensitive, as you have them in bags it may be possible to check by hand if tubers are large enough to harvest. If the compost is still loose it may be possible to just pull off a tuber from the main bunch to try. Eristic had some a nice photo of a pot grown yacon he harvested not long ago

thanks for all the tips, I've bookmarked the page for harvest reference. when i moved the plants inside i did have a little root around for tubers on the yukon and found some but didn't check for their overall size, just to see if there was some. and i topped up the soil in both the ulluco and the oca pots, not sure if that would benefit the oca but hopes it encourages more tubers with the ulluco.

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #37 on:** October 30, 2009, 14:43:08 »

It sounds as though I should fleece my oca when there's a danger of frost, but there's no need at the moment.

chriscross1966 · « **Reply #38 on:** October 30, 2009, 15:16:18 »

Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on October 30, 2009, 14:43:08

It sounds as though I should fleece my oca when there's a danger of frost, but there's no need at the moment.

I've sort of restrained the Oca with chicken wire (also I had a bunny problem earlier this year)... I jsust laid the fleece over the wire adn weighted it down when we had the most recent frosty weather here in Oxford.... it did for all the unprotected cucurbits and beans but fleece saved a courgette and the Oca looks fine... I took it off once the weather had passed as I thought it more important that it gets the water and light.....plus it's stupidly mild still..... I reckon if we get another couple of weeks of this (looks liek we've got at least a week according to the met office) then they'll be as good as you can hope for round here anyway....

chrisc

chriscross1966 · « **Reply #39 on:** November 24, 2009, 14:14:12 »

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Oca-Oxalis-Tubers-seed-exotic-rare-vegetable-not-potato_W0QQitemZ330377933763QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=item4cec0f33c3

This guys having a Turkish surely? :o

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Author Topic: Oca Ahoy!.... Thanks to Jayb (Read 15999 times)