Hopin Alba Oca tubers are usually red in color and fade to pink and then white toward the ends of the tubers. The eyes may have the same color as the skin or may be white. There is a lot of color variation with this one. Smaller tubers may be almost entirely white. Most have stems that are green, becoming red at the base. White flesh with a red center. This variety seems to have thicker stolons and bulkier tubers than many varieties, a trait that it shares with Amarillo and White.

An early sprouting and vigorous variety.

Hopin is the most widely available variety among suppliers in the Pacific Northwest. If you are looking to get started with oca in a similar climate, it is a good choice. It forms fewer tubers than Sunset, but they tend to be larger.

Hopin seems to produce more fasciated stems than other varieties – as many as 1 in every 15 plants.

A somewhat acidic variety. After a few days of exposure to sunlight, it sweetens considerably.

Longer than average dormancy.

Oca is sensitive to frost which is why it is recommended to grow in regions with mild winters or more temperate zone (USDA Zone 7-9).

Growing Oca in areas colder than USDA Zone 8 is possible, however the tubers will need to be harvested and stored in cold storage to be planted again for next season.

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Rosy Gems Oca Tubers – Oxalis Tuberosum are a variety of oca made popular by the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in Occidental, California. The color is, unsurprisingly, pink. It gets redder with exposure to light. White flesh with a red/purple center.

This variety doesn’t seem to make particularly big plants, at least in our climate, but yields better than the size of the plant might suggest. Traditionally the tubers are exposed to sun and cold for several days after harvest to increase sweetness. Sun exposure also enriches the vivid colors of the Oca tubers.

Latin Name: Oxalis tuberosum
Site and Soil: Rosy Gems Oca Tubers do well in full sun to partial shade in well drained soil, loose soil pH 5.3-7.8.
Bearing Age: Perennial tubers, can be harvested annually.
Size at Maturity: 2-3 feet tall, sprawling
Ripening Time: November-January
USDA Zone: 5-9

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Tubers yellowish orange with red eyes. Green stems and foliage. Highest yielding variety that we offer; yields over two pounds are not unusual. After exposure, flavor brings to mind carrot, slightly sweet, no tartness.

Sunset Oca Tubers – Oxalis tuberosum

Sunset is an early sprouter and strong grower in the spring. If you can’t get Hopin or Bolivian Red Sunset is probably the next best choice for growing in the Pacific Northwest. Together, they make a good pair for breeding, since they are vigorous, early, long-flowering, and have compatible flower forms.

Sunset is probably the heaviest yielding variety among those available in the US, although Hopin,White, and Bolivian Red come close. Sunset is about two weeks earlier to being forming tubers than most varieties. It probably begins tuberization at a daylength of about 12.5 hours.

Andean Root Crops

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