Kitchen Garden Forum

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I love growing anything unusual. This year I'm trying Oca (white form) from the Real Seed Company. Its a tuber from South America.
The plants, although chitted at the same time have shown great variation in growth rates. Some are barely 6 inches tall while others are comparative triffids at 18 inches tall and jam packed with foliage.
Has anyone experience of growing these? What can I expect?

Hi Marken,

I grew some pink ones last year but they made so few new tubers I thought I'd better save them for planting again instead of eating them.

I didn't lift all the small ones in the row and they have over wintered and made nice little plants this year. They don't seem to grow very tall and do vary quite a bit. I'm hoping to have enough to eat some this year. It says they have a nice lemony flavour. They do look rather like Oxalis leaves, so perhaps they are related - I've not looked them up.

Hi Plumpudding
yes Oca are in the Oxalis family. Real seeds do say that the plants are short day plants and the tubers wont fill out until very late in the season. I've put some in large pots so I can shelter them in the greenhouse and keep them growing for as long as possible in the autumn. I've even thought about artificially shortening the days by somehow covering them in the evening. (Isn't that a bizarre thought? I have done this with poinsettias to get the flowering for christmas as the commercial growers do.But that was easy, I just put the plant under the stairs every evening for a few weeks. However, these pots are way too big for that).
I think I'll just let nature do its own thing!

Hi Marken, I suppose it is worth a try covering them later on in the season to hurry them up a bit, but they seem to be quite hardy if you can wait.

Have you tried Japanese artichokes? I've some in a large pot and some in the garden, but the tubers are so small they aren't worth bothering with. I'm hoping they produce something a bit bigger this year. They are in the mint family, but I can't imagine what they taste like. I think curiosity will get the better of me this time even if they are tiny and fiddly to clean.

Hi PLUMPUDDING,
Japanese artichokes - Are they the same as Chinese artichokes? (I've not tried those either). Let us know how you get on, they sound very interesting. Are they tall growing like the Jerusalem variety. Are they just as permanent once planted!

Hi Marken,
I suspect that they are either the same plant or very closely related.
Mine are Chinese Artichokes and I rather like eating them raw. They have a nutty flavour to me. I also cook them at times and serve with a white sauce.
Both plants are of the Mint Family.
JB.

Chinese and Japanese Artichokes are the same, Stachys affinis. They're very easy to grow and can become invasive, or at least by reputation. I had a huge clump of these for years, but in the dry autumn of 2001 I gave them the least attention of all my crops — I didn't give them any water at all — and they failed to form any tubers. They did not come up the next year, not a single one. They grow to no more than 2 feet and look and behave a bit like mint. They're an excellent winter vegetable and completely hardy. You need to dig them fresh from the ground when required: they don't keep well once lifted. They're delicious, a real gourmet treat.

Thanks for your posts Johnboy/FelixLeiter. I've stayed away from the chinese variety because in the illustration they reminded me of big fat grubs. In my minds eye I could see them wriggling about. However, maybe I do need to conquer my fear and at least give them a go. Where did you source yours?