This handful wouldn't even make one meal, but they're satisfying enough as eye-candy to reward the light work of lifting them. They are just too good-looking to give up on yet. At least I've maintained my planting stock for next year, and what's more, only the plants which survived the first frost produced tubers, so I now have the offspring of the marginally hardier individuals.
Day-length neutrality, or frost-hardiness – I don't mind, either would do for me.
I have never tried growing oca before or eat one. But they look colourful and pretty.
ReplyDeleteUlluco really promises so much but seldom delivers. Are those all one variety or several? I lost my whites and greens last year.
ReplyDeleteHy
ReplyDeleteI just drop by your blog, very impressive.
It's a pity i've not meet you sooner. we got ocas and olloco from peru. I harvested them only a week ago. Almost nothing. very few for next year seedlings.
I'm French living in Spain. I'll follow you
so long
I lost nearly all my ulluco varieties this year. They just are so fussy about weather conditions, soil, humidity, ... I consider going back to the trick I used before, reducing the daylight during summer (for about two weeks) and thus stimulating them to tuberise early. Together with maca, this is the Andean tuber that presents the hardiest challenge to grow over here. All the rest work decently (we'll see how arracacha goes..), some do need some specific circumstances (oca: mild autumn and preferably a rainy summer, ahipa:lots of warmth,...) but there's a lot of work to be done before either ulluco or maca will produce something decent over here...
ReplyDeleteidem for me. i've only two small olocos and 10 tiny ocas to sow next year
ReplyDeleteHi Ian I have also harvested a few of my Oka that you kindly sent me. They are small, but were very tasty, hopefully I will get them in earlier this year, so they will have a better chance. When do you think I should plant them, and would it be best to save the biggest tubers for this.
ReplyDeleteSteve
I would love you would can it is not possible to get it to give a corm in Hungary yet
ReplyDelete