Yacon and Oca
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Sorted mine today 
and I think I may have figured out why the tubers formed on the stems. Of the five pots. three had put quite an effort into 'stem tubers' and the same three were almost completely bereft of anything useful in the pot :yikes: .
Seems I've a talent for raising weevils ...
The other two pots had a fair few thoroughly chomped but gave a half decent crop ~ they're currently awaiting a wash and final inspection prior to weighing .
and I think I may have figured out why the tubers formed on the stems. Of the five pots. three had put quite an effort into 'stem tubers' and the same three were almost completely bereft of anything useful in the pot :yikes: . Seems I've a talent for raising weevils ...
The other two pots had a fair few thoroughly chomped but gave a half decent crop ~ they're currently awaiting a wash and final inspection prior to weighing
.
Weevils....like vine weevils or those huge white grub things I found in two tubers ?
I really want to empty the last two tubs but we've had non stop wet, and stepping on the lawn sinks me down into four inches of mud
Interested to hear that you still got a crop though; and half decent should be good
M
I really want to empty the last two tubs but we've had non stop wet, and stepping on the lawn sinks me down into four inches of mud
Interested to hear that you still got a crop though; and half decent should be good
M
Indeed!
Weevils....like vine weevils or those huge white grub things I found in two tubers ?>>><<<
Interested to hear that you still got a crop though; and half decent should be good
The three pots had almost no root system remaining so I'd definitely plump for weevils, couldn't tell you which though. Unfortunately I lost a good chunk more during the rinse and inspect stage
and ended up with roughly 500g*. Which is better that what I began with ~ and a portion of what I began with was sent out to two others to try 
.* 450g being roughly equivalent to one pound / 1lb old money ... and probably equivalent to the weight of weevils I must have farmed
Not too great here unfortunately, roughly around 1.5kg I should think. From a plot of 4x6ft and around a dozen plants. Judging by Mary's success I'm thinking of just using pots next year, it's probably our crappy soil if I'm honest, we're constantly digging out chunks of charred painted boards and rusty nails.
Quite a mixed bag in terms of size, all of them a nice rosey red colour varying from 10mm to 60mm, lots of munching has been going on just under ground level, it looks like slugs but I'm not sure.
We're going to boil a few up tomorrow night and see how they taste, maybe roast a few too if they're good.
Quite a few "stem tubers", can they be eaten too?
Quite a mixed bag in terms of size, all of them a nice rosey red colour varying from 10mm to 60mm, lots of munching has been going on just under ground level, it looks like slugs but I'm not sure.
We're going to boil a few up tomorrow night and see how they taste, maybe roast a few too if they're good.
Quite a few "stem tubers", can they be eaten too?
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Those almost look like a different variety from the ones I grew 
mine are long things, not so rounded as yours are.
With all the bother folks have had from slugs and weevils, I'm just going to empty out the last two big pots and hope. It's pouring down again tonight (and hasn't really stopped for days) but if I get a dry hour or so tomorrow I'm going to just clear them out.
Hugh said right at the start that as long a growing season as possible, and knowing just how overcast we can be here, I tried for that.
It's the only thing I can think of that should make so much difference. I did plant them in the compost from our compost bins, and those are cold, worm worked, bins, but that's all the feeding they got.
M
mine are long things, not so rounded as yours are.With all the bother folks have had from slugs and weevils, I'm just going to empty out the last two big pots and hope. It's pouring down again tonight (and hasn't really stopped for days) but if I get a dry hour or so tomorrow I'm going to just clear them out.
Hugh said right at the start that as long a growing season as possible, and knowing just how overcast we can be here, I tried for that.
It's the only thing I can think of that should make so much difference. I did plant them in the compost from our compost bins, and those are cold, worm worked, bins, but that's all the feeding they got.
M
I planted mine in pots as I had no beds for them, as soon as the last of the top growth has completely died back I'll see what we got and post some pictures.
Those almost look like a different variety from the ones I grew
I've had a mix of Shewie's and yours so it's most likely just how they develop. Mine, like yours, have been in good compost and watered but not fed.
It might be that I needed to leave them longer ~ but I suspect I'd have had none left unaffected if I'd left them another week
.
Mine were also a mix of ones like Toddy's and the little "marbles." They had a small handful of Growmore when they went in and some 6X during the growing period, so I doubt it is feed. Did anyone earth them up? I did once, but I was still surprised how close to the surface the tubers were. Mary, did you do them like spuds in the tubs and keep adding compost as they grew, thereby earthing them up?
No, they didn't seem to need any earthing up, and there were only half a dozen wee nodules growing on the stems....and it's not as though it's not damp enough here for that.
When Decorum said that his were pushing out of the pot, I couldn't even see the soil under the plant growth to find out if ours were coming up out of the pot too.
When they did finally start to go over (see the photos) I kind of coiled up the stems and plonked them ontop of the pots and just left them be.
You can see in the photos of the upturned pots that the tubers all seem to have grown in a thickish layer though, so you might well be onto something.
Spuds layer out again when earthed up, maybe growing further south with longer days and brighter sunshine, they could have done with that instead of putting out stem tubers ?
M
When Decorum said that his were pushing out of the pot, I couldn't even see the soil under the plant growth to find out if ours were coming up out of the pot too.
When they did finally start to go over (see the photos) I kind of coiled up the stems and plonked them ontop of the pots and just left them be.
You can see in the photos of the upturned pots that the tubers all seem to have grown in a thickish layer though, so you might well be onto something.
Spuds layer out again when earthed up, maybe growing further south with longer days and brighter sunshine, they could have done with that instead of putting out stem tubers ?
M
Mary, which aspect were yours in? Our street runs almost exactly east to west* and were on the north of the house ~ which is likely to have caused the growth to become so long and straggly :yikes:
* Or west to east, depending on your point of view
I reckon the surface pushing was a primordial survival instinct kicking in ~ poor things were desperate to flee the chompers 
* Or west to east, depending on your point of view
I reckon the surface pushing was a primordial survival instinct kicking in ~ poor things were desperate to flee the chompers
You know my postcode ? google map it.....my garden is surrounded by trees and house gables and 2m high fences. Even in the height of Summer the plants were lucky to get sunshine for five hours a day. Most days they didn't even see sunshine. That strange hot yellow ball thing is a rare visitor to the skies around here at times.
Frankly I was astonished that they grew healthily at all after what Hugh had said about long daylight hours and long growing season. I thought if we managed enough for a meal and to replace what we'd sown, then they'd be doing well.
M
Frankly I was astonished that they grew healthily at all after what Hugh had said about long daylight hours and long growing season. I thought if we managed enough for a meal and to replace what we'd sown, then they'd be doing well.
M
Sort of similar aspect then ... hmmm ...
Were you aware that google earth has aerial photography from 1945 for at least some of your locale? Just scroll in an look for the '1945' date tab in the corner ~ mine's bottom left.
Were you aware that google earth has aerial photography from 1945 for at least some of your locale? Just scroll in an look for the '1945' date tab in the corner ~ mine's bottom left.
Wouldn't surprise me... the Germans dropped a rack of bombs trying to get the old Victorian gasworks, and the Castle's pretty recognisable.
Interesting to know though and I think the Uncle and the Aunt would like to see those photos
cheers,
M
Interesting to know though
and I think the Uncle and the Aunt would like to see those photos cheers,
M
It's bitterly cold here, and though the shaws haven't quite gone over as far as I'd like, I started to worry that the cold would damage the tubers that I reckoned would be like the last posts and tight against the sides.
So, I emptied the last two tubs out this afternoon.
This shows the original tuber that I planted against the ones that I lifted. I planted three this size in the pot.
So, I emptied the last two tubs out this afternoon.
This shows the original tuber that I planted against the ones that I lifted. I planted three this size in the pot.
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I don't think there's as much weight per plant (haven't washed them yet) but the tubers are certainly both big and sound
I'm pretty sure I've lifted them a bit early, but we had hard frost last night and it's supposed to be harder tonight and I was reluctant to leave them to turn to mush.
I have a lot of red roots that haven't turned into tubers, but look like they might sprout. I've buried them back in the middle of the soft soil from the tubs, right in the middle of the round tub, and I'll see what happens to them.
I'm starting to wonder if I ought to have buried the original ones a bit deeper….pretty much all of the tubers came from a layer less than eight inches down in the tubs.
How deep should they have been planted ? mine went into 6" plant pots to start them off, and though I did bury some of the stems when I potted them into the tubs, I didn't plant them very deeply.
Best results seem to be from the round pots that sat in peace in relatively sheltered space, but none of them had full sun for long, even in the height of summer.
It's been most interesting growing these Thanks Hugh
M
I'm pretty sure I've lifted them a bit early, but we had hard frost last night and it's supposed to be harder tonight and I was reluctant to leave them to turn to mush.
I have a lot of red roots that haven't turned into tubers, but look like they might sprout. I've buried them back in the middle of the soft soil from the tubs, right in the middle of the round tub, and I'll see what happens to them.
I'm starting to wonder if I ought to have buried the original ones a bit deeper….pretty much all of the tubers came from a layer less than eight inches down in the tubs.
How deep should they have been planted ? mine went into 6" plant pots to start them off, and though I did bury some of the stems when I potted them into the tubs, I didn't plant them very deeply.
Best results seem to be from the round pots that sat in peace in relatively sheltered space, but none of them had full sun for long, even in the height of summer.
It's been most interesting growing these
Thanks Hugh M
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