I lifted these yesterday, from two plants. As you can see, the red
oca didn't produce much. I don't know whether it's typical, though; I couldn't see any more of the same variety with tubers on the surface, which would give me a comparison. Some of the tubers I put in were very small, and I'm planning to plant the biggest next time. I don't know whether that makes a difference. It showed no frost damage at all, having come sailing through with nothing but fleece and snow above some of the tubers. The white variety had a more satisfactory yield, but all the tubers on the surface had gone soft from being frosted. There was next to no slug damage, and what there was, was all on the surface.
The second pic shows some alliums like long shallotts whic I found on a Chinese stall at the Bull Ring market in town. Many of them are shallott size, and at first I assumed that was whaqt they were. Some were much bigger though; for comparison, they're sitting on an A4 sheet. When I got them, there were very few of that size, and I picked them out for growing on. Today, though, I saw they had more in, and a lot were this size. Obviously the customers prefer the big ones! I'll try them and see what they turn into.
The white one seems a pretty good yield. I don't suppose you weighed them did you? They say that small tubers are just as good as large for seed, but I have not tried a comparison.
ReplyDeleteI reckon those alliums will go straight to seed if you plant them, and you could collect it.
I didn't think to weigh the oca, unfortunately. Never mind, I've got plenty more. The alliums will probably go to seed, I agree, but it'll be interesting to try growing it.
ReplyDeleteHi Robert. I've got both red and orange oca and the red definitely yeilded less. They were also nobblier! I'm only growing the orange this season.
ReplyDeleteI've tried growing these long shallots from the shops. They didn't go to seed - which people had warned me of - but they didn't produce more than thin things like salad onions. I've not bothered since. Worth a go though. It might depend on variety (like the red and orange oca!)
If they're not going to seed that sounds like a perennial onion, which maybe doesn't like your conditions. I'll give it a whirl and see where I get to.
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