Cleaning Up My Act; Radix is Two Today

It is very uncharacteristic of me to restrain myself from opening my Christmas presents until this late in the year.  I've always considered delayed gratification to be one of the most overrated virtues and have acted accordingly.

So how I managed not to harvest my indoor ulluco plants until now is nothing short of remarkable.  I wish the same could be said of the yields I obtained.  Ulluco does seem to be infuriatingly fickle: it doesn't like to be too hot or too dry and slugs seem to enjoy it more than the average ex-pat Andean tuber crop. Then there's its steadfast refusal to form tubers at anything like a sensible time of year. That's why, in sheer desperation, I've taken to growing it on the windowsill in a cool room.  Hopeless - but oh, those tubers are so exquisite.

Another black mark against its name is its susceptibility to viruses. Virtually all the plants I've seen are loaded with viruses.  Which brings me on, rather neatly, to a post which I was intending to publish on ulluco last year, but didn't, for reasons that will become obvious:





Cleaning Up My Act

Not the brisk rub down with carbolic soap that some have suggested I need, but more of an attempt at a bit of in vitro cultivation of ulluco, that iconic Crap Crop of the Incas. The intention of the exercise is to see whether its crap cropping might be ameliorated a tad by eliminating all the nasty viruses that lurk inside both tubers and plants. I've enlisted the help of a friend employed at a local institute of learning - let's call him "M" for the purposes of this post. He's got the requisite technical skills and is keen to help. He's also pretty nifty at fixing gadgets, cars and assorted technical paraphernalia. Maybe "Q" would be a better name: my Aston Martin has never run so smoothly......

This is a virus laden leaf of Ulluco "Cusco Market", with blotches of some sort of mottle virus clearly illuminated by the light behind.

Like potatoes, this is no good at all for the plants and reduces their vigour. Weak plants give reduced yields; in the case of ulluco this frequently leaves you staring blankly at the empty soil in disbelief, like a horticultural Old Mother Hubbard. Viruses are the bane of tuber crops and should be driven from their hosts and put to the sword at every opportunity. Like now.

There's a well-established protocol for this in some Andean root and tuber crops, but firstly we opted for the squint and slice method, which involves the removal of the miniscule growing tip of the plant, known as the meristem. This is usually virus free, as the cells are dividing so rapidly that they outrun the viruses. If said meristem is placed in a sterile growing medium with the right levels of plant growth regulators and vitamins -bingo - you get a new virus-free plant. That's the theory anyway. At least we now have the plants growing under aseptic conditions - the Andes in aspic if you like.

Here are some ocas:

These are ullucos:

Viruses can be defeated in other ways, including the addition of antiviral compounds into the growing medium (which is usually agar based) or by subjecting the plants to higher than usual temperatures, which zaps the viruses, but leaves the plants themselves unharmed. Being of a cautious and sceptical demeanour, I decided that we should, in addition to meristem tip culture, attempt at least one of the other options to give those vile viruses a double whammy that would surely leave them homeless............ Communication ends here. 

In one of those charming little volte-faces, I lost all of the above plants when I opted for an impromptu stay in the local infirmary. At that precise moment (and not a million miles away) the incubator where the plants were stored chose to fail; the combination of several weeks darkness and low temperatures killed the whole lot. I almost cried when I finally managed to struggle in and survey the carnage.  

Tissue culture of plants is not that difficult to do (I managed it) and can be carried out quite successfully at home, using bleach, a pressure cooker and a few other bits of equipment. Sinner, lay down that Sabatier and pick up your scalpel.  So although this experiment ended in failure, I have at least shown that it can be done - should be done.

Oh, and by the way, today is Radix's second birthday. The "terrible twos" await.  No one ever said this was going to be easy.......