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Gardening in New Zealand

Growing oca aka NZ yams

22 years ago

Oca aka NZ yam - Oxalis tuberosa syn. O. crenata

Thought I'd ask the experts on this one. I've just bought five tubers. Should I plant them now! How fat apart? Hill them up? Do they like full sun (I'm talking Sydney sun here)? What about soil type? Do they like to be well fed or should I keep them on a starvation diet? And most important of all, when do I harvest them?

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Comments (2)

Glenn_50
22 years ago
Ray...just remember that they are members of the oxalis family and can hang around in your garden for a few seasons after harvesting like Jerusalem Artichokes.
Plant half sun where you are, bout 30cm apart, treat em like spuds as far as food goes, harvest mid winter, or when the foliage dies down. Grown mine in 20 inch pots sometimes and never earthed them.
Glenn
mfwoodbridge
22 years ago
Hey Raymondo.

I live in southern Tassie and have grown oca before. They give us amazing yields, and I have not had trouble with weedyness any more than potatoes... nowhere like Jerusalem artichokes...

Keep in mind that many oca cultivars are daylength dependent and will not produce well close to the equator. That said, the area they come from (Ecuador, Peru) sits spot on the equator, so cultivars that are daylength neutral might be around in Australia.

I hope they work well for you as they do for me. I am now expanding and will probably grow several different cultivars in the future. I can't get enough of them and have substituted part of my potato patch for oca, which I eat raw, roasted, baked, barbecued, or any way you like.
A tremendously versatile vegetable.

Cheers!

Manuel.
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