I see conflicting instructions on the net, some say bank up like potatoes
and others don't.
Those who have grown them what did you do?

-- Regards
Bob Hobden
Posting to this Newsgroup
from the W.of London. UK

In article ,
Bob Hobden wrote:
I see conflicting instructions on the net, some say bank up like potatoes
and others don't.
Those who have grown them what did you do?

Brought them in, and kept them is very slightly damp soil. They
are significantly more frost-sensitive than potatoes.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote
Bob Hobden wrote:
I see conflicting instructions on the net, some say bank up like potatoes
and others don't.
Those who have grown them what did you do?

Brought them in, and kept them is very slightly damp soil. They
are significantly more frost-sensitive than potatoes.


I think there may have been a misunderstanding, what I meant was when
growing them in the garden did you bank them up like you do when growing
potatoes?

I understand you have to let the plants get frosted at the end of the season
but wait two weeks before digging up the tubers as the goodness from the top
goes back into the tubers. Then, if there is a crop worth storing I'll
probably take your idea and store in damp sand/soil.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 30/05/2015 22:15, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Nick Maclaren" wrote
Bob Hobden wrote:
I see conflicting instructions on the net, some say bank up like
potatoes
and others don't.
Those who have grown them what did you do?

Brought them in, and kept them is very slightly damp soil. They
are significantly more frost-sensitive than potatoes.


I think there may have been a misunderstanding, what I meant was when
growing them in the garden did you bank them up like you do when growing
potatoes?

I understand you have to let the plants get frosted at the end of the
season but wait two weeks before digging up the tubers as the goodness
from the top goes back into the tubers. Then, if there is a crop worth
storing I'll probably take your idea and store in damp sand/soil.

When I grew Oca I topped up the compost level, like potatoes they
produce from the stem underground, though they will also throw a few
tubers above ground if the foliage is thick enough to keep the light off.

On 31/05/2015 1:36 AM, Bob Hobden wrote:
I see conflicting instructions on the net, some say bank up like
potatoes and others don't.
Those who have grown them what did you do?

I harvested mine yesterday (I'm in the southern hemisphere) and I should
have banked them up but didn't. some were right on the top of the soil
so i've jsut shoved them back into the soil off to the side of the
harvested plant. Next year, I will hill them up.

On 31/05/2015 7:15 AM, Bob Hobden wrote:
"Nick Maclaren" wrote
Bob Hobden wrote:
I see conflicting instructions on the net, some say bank up like
potatoes
and others don't.
Those who have grown them what did you do?

Brought them in, and kept them is very slightly damp soil. They
are significantly more frost-sensitive than potatoes.


I think there may have been a misunderstanding, what I meant was when
growing them in the garden did you bank them up like you do when growing
potatoes?

I understand you have to let the plants get frosted at the end of the
season but wait two weeks before digging up the tubers as the goodness
from the top goes back into the tubers.

Hmmm. Not sure that I see any sense in that comment given my
experience. My crop got zapped in a -6C frost and given the instant
mush of the top growth, I can't see how any 'goodness' from the zapped
top could get back to the tubers.

Delicious things - roasted some last night.

"Fran Farmer" wrote

Bob Hobden wrote:
I see conflicting instructions on the net, some say bank up like
potatoes and others don't.
Those who have grown them what did you do?

I harvested mine yesterday (I'm in the southern hemisphere) and I should
have banked them up but didn't. some were right on the top of the soil
so i've jsut shoved them back into the soil off to the side of the
harvested plant. Next year, I will hill them up.


Well they are also known as New Zealand Yams. :-)
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

In article ,
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 31/05/2015 7:15 AM, Bob Hobden wrote:

I understand you have to let the plants get frosted at the end of the
season but wait two weeks before digging up the tubers as the goodness
from the top goes back into the tubers.

Hmmm. Not sure that I see any sense in that comment given my
experience. My crop got zapped in a -6C frost and given the instant
mush of the top growth, I can't see how any 'goodness' from the zapped
top could get back to the tubers.

I suspect that Bob Hobden was talking about a very mild ground frost,
not a real frost like that! My experience is that the tops are
killed by the former, and turned to mush by the latter (as you
say). And any serious frost also turns the surface tubers to mush,
too.

I liked them very much, but stopped because they didn't grow to
the size they should have done. I think that was precisely because
Cambridge gets light frosts fairly early, and the tubers bulk up
only as the days shorten.

In summary: I agree that any frost is bad news for Oca. They aren't
as hardy as potatoes.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.