Kitchen Garden Forum

Bearing in mind that I am likely to be passing my plot on to my daughter this year, I am tempted to try growing both Oca (New Zealand Yam ) and Sweet Potatoes this year

I am told that the sweet potatoes are somewhat bionic in terms of spread of growth, having been described to me as "like bindweed on steroids"
There is also a question as to whether the resultant crop is worthwhile on a small bit of land. I am told sweet potatoes need a lot of depth.
Beginning to sound to me as if once planted a possible pain to control.
The other factor is I am told the crop volume per plant is not that great

Also fancy trying Oca, having fed it to everyone on Christmas day the entire family like the taste. Snag with this one is again space, If what I am told is correct, the recommended space is at least 3ft between plants.

From what I gather both the above are late harvest, I am wondering if they would make a viable substitute for main crop potatoes. Since neither are actually related to potatoes there is no risk of blight.

Does anybody have any experience of growing either and if so what is your experience or advice. Given that I have absolutely no experience of growing either to pass on to my daughter and she will undoubtedly have to take over the plot at some point this year.

I can give them a joint space of around 100sq ft.
IF you have experience of these crops should I perhaps only grow one of them in that sort of area


Thanks

Pa Snip wrote:Also fancy trying Oca, having fed it to everyone on Christmas day the entire family like the taste. Snag with this one is again space, If what I am told is correct, the recommended space is at least 3ft between plants.

From what I gather both the above are late harvest, I am wondering if they would make a viable substitute for main crop potatoes. Since neither are actually related to potatoes there is no risk of blight.

Does anybody have any experience of growing either and if so what is your experience or advice. Given that I have absolutely no experience of growing either to pass on to my daughter and she will undoubtedly have to take over the plot at some point this year.

I can give them a joint space of around 100sq ft.
IF you have experience of these crops should I perhaps only grow one of them in that sort of area


Thanks

Oca instructions - I've only ever tried them once, and killed them when the big pot i was growing them in flooded (a family of snails kindly decided to crawl in and die in the drainage holes, so very little water could escape) but I was told 1ft between plants not 3, but I suppose it depends on variety... However, my brother grows them every year and gets a good yield, they are as easy to grow as potatoes, just smaller, but in my exsperiance, have roughly the same weight of final crop...

I've never grown sweet potatoes but I have tried Yacon which I'm told is similar in how it grows, and space is important then. Personally, with 100sqft I'd split it into 4 secions (25 each) and plant one with oca, one with sweet potatoes and the other 2 with other (none root) veg of your choice.

If you do that, make sure the 2 root crops arnt in sections next to each other. You dont want them getting tangled and interfering with each other...

I've grown sweet potatoes in my greenhouse. They like it hot and humid. The best way to control the vines is to train them up string, as any vines left to lie on the ground will root and then the resulting crop will be smaller. I got OK sized tubers, not shop sized, but OK. It was a novelty really, we had a hot year, so they did OK. If we have a summer like last year, they may not fare so well. They like rich soil and plenty of water too. Hope this is useful Pa Snip

I grow sweet potatoes through black membrane on a hump like bed that I dig in lots of compost from the bin. I wouldn't say it was particularly deep, probably only a fork and a bit depth & in pretty much full sunlight so the soil gets & remains nice and warm. I plant on either side of the hump so each side gets as much sun as possible during the day. I think your raised beds with some black membrane would be good & the vines could just hang over the edge.

Vines not much of a problem really as just directed them around the edges & they are quite pretty. Like retro they weren't as big as bought ones but perfectly adequate. The little ones I just threw into stews, curries etc with the skin on so actually none wasted. (I'm pretty sure I posted my success on here somewhere).

Wanting to try Oca myself this year & hoping to outwit the mice with some more chickpeas as really liked the taste of them fresh off the plant & not dried - now that will be a challenge, little blighters are like Mensa candidates going by how clever they are at getting through my defences!

Westi

Have a look at following link for Oca growing instructions:-http://www.realseeds.co.uk/oca_instructions.html

snooky wrote:Have a look at following link for Oca growing instructions:-http://www.realseeds.co.uk/oca_instructions.html

That's the link I shared glad I'm not the only real seed guy on here I like being able to save my own seeds

Thanks for the suggestions and links.

I shall bear in mind about keeping them well apart, but reckon I shall try planting both.

You won't believe I've never seen Oca before. It's look like similar body structure of turmeric. Is it turmeric type or something else?

I've had some Oca tubers for a few years now. They don't need wide spacing and are quite hardy. Mine have made a bed from the ones I've not picked. They were originally from Real seeds, the pretty pink ones with white eyes. I do find them fiddly to clean, but they taste nice. The main drawbacks are their very late cropping and them being a favourite snack for slugs and snails. A very easy crop if you can keep the slugs away.

I bought some Yacon too from Real seeds but they just went rotten. I notice that they will replace them now if none grow.

One very nice tuber to try is dahlias - they make a very tasty rosti if you have a few spare. Different kinds have slightly different flavours some sweeter than others.

I usually grow sweet potatoes from slips each year.

You do need deep, rich soil, so a raised bed covered with black plastic is ideal.

At the start, they seem to grow grudgingly, putting on very little growth. But when it gets warm and rains, man do they grow!

However, be warned, crops can be very hit and miss. Some years I get beautiful, large red tubers; other years, practically nothing at all. It needs to be warm and wet.

They are, I have found, a complete !"£$%^& to keep, often changing their taste to something almost soapy if they are exposed to any low temperatures. I therefore tend to lift them when I want to eat them. They are delicious, though, and have a much better taste than those you get from the shops.

Thanks for the answers.

I have a friend (I know, amazing isn't it, ) who grows Oca on his plot. He gave us some and the taste was indeed a completely different experience, mmmm tasty.

However, there may be a space availability problem due to Mrs Snip deciding she wanted to try yet another variety of potato this year. If there is a space issue then butternut squash till take priority.