Oca, White Salmon

Oca information and growing instructions

This is an OSSI open source variety. Click for more information about open source seeds.

Phytosanitary information

White Salmon is a Cultivariable original variety, introduced in 2018.  It is a sport (somatic mutant) of Sockeye that has lost all red color.  This is a reversible mutation, so you will occasionally see White Salmon tubers with red stripes or sectors.  My best guess is that this is an example of transposon activity.  Other than color and flavor, it is identical to Sockeye, which makes it the best of the white varieties that I offer.  Because there is not much demand for white ocas, I don’t grow much of this variety and it is not available every year.

Culinary Traits

White Salmon is a sweet variety with little to no tartness.  The color is white inside and out, becoming light yellow with full maturity or exposure.  Cooked, the texture is soft and the tuber will disintegrate with long cooking time.

Agronomic Traits

White Salmon plants are tall, with a large number of stems, and sprawling at maturity.  The tubers are produced on relatively short stolons and cluster densely beneath the plant. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The tubers are easy to harvest, but because they are closely packed, many will have irregular shapes.  Tuberization photoperiod is about 13 hours, making it two to three weeks earlier than most of the heirloom varieties.  Average yield is 2.2 pounds.  The maximum tuber length is 6.4 inches and the average tuber length is 2 inches.  Average tuber count is 34.  The distribution of tubers ranges pretty evenly from small to large.

White Salmon is a fairly poor mid-styled flowerer, flowering from late June to September here.