Arracacha information and growing instructions |
This is an OSSI open source variety. Click for more information about open source seeds. |
Ocosta is the first new arracacha from our breeding project, introduced in 2020. It was the earliest of 82 seedling varieties, producing a reasonable yield in 10 months in our climate, a substantial improvement over the Puerto Rican variety. It will probably be even earlier in warmer climates. It has also survived our USDA zone 8b winters for two years. I think it will probably survive down to zone 7 if you put four inches of mulch over the crowns at the end of the season.
Ocosta has a white root, with a light yellow core. The cooked roots are soft, rich and starchy, with a flavor that reminds me of both potato and parsnip, without being quite like either one. Each plant produces eight to twelve corms the first year, so you should be able to multiply two plants to about twenty in the second year.
Offsets will be sent untrimmed, since they mail better that way. You will want to cut back the base of the offset to about three rings before rooting, as this promotes better root development. Arracacha will ship in the spring, regardless of when the rest of your order ships.
If you are growing heirloom varieties of arracacha, I recommend growing Ocosta as far from them as possible, to reduce the chance of introducing viruses carried in those varieties. This variety was grown from seed and is virus free within the limits of my testing.
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