Saturday, May 3, 2008

A bit more about Oca

Hayden asked me to supply a tad bit more about Ocas (Oka) so here is what I know of it (which is not much bigger than my tubers):

Supposedly it is hardy to my zone 7. Supposedly it take 4 to 6 months for tubers to develop but the tops are frost sensitive.
So..my thoughts are that I would usually start them a bit earlier than I am now (I had to order them this year) and then if I needed to I could put a temporary plastic tunnel or some remay fabric over them in October, or even when starting them, if needed to allow them to have enough time to mature fully. The end of October will be 6 months for me this year so I should be o.k.---but just in case I will use a tunnel.
Here is a link to the plants for a future data base on the Oca. And a decent article from a guy that grew them already---he might have been in a warmer climate than mine though?

Lastly I don't think I said where I purchased mine. It was Nichols nursery if you are interested.

1 comment:

Hayden said...

Thank you! I remember now that I saw it in the perennial veggies book and was charmed by the colors; I'm always a sucker for anything in the red tones, LOL! I'll check out the other links.