Just a quick picture post - an update on the progress of my oca seedlings.
I lost a few to damping off - they went flaccid and floppy and a gentle tug revealed them to be rootless. I felt a bit legless myself at that moment. After the horror had subsided, I cut off the roots and sliced back further into healthy looking hypocotyls. I then potted them into vermiculite and they have since started to grow new roots. So maybe I didn't lose them after all. The ones below have escaped intensive care so far.
Comments
It'll be interesting to see what tuber colours arise from your crosses. Maybe you'll be lucky and develop an entirely new colour for the UK.
I found some pictures showing the range of colours available in Oca (see the links) and they are much more diverse than those we currently have.
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa63/a_rose_man/ocaPS.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa63/a_rose_man/oxalis_tuberosa2.jpg
http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa63/a_rose_man/oxalis_tuberosa4.jpg
I think the glaucous foliage you describe is an artefact of the camera flash. There are some differences in stem and leaf colour between the seedlings though.
Thanks for the links to the mouthwatering oca images.
It will be interesting to see what colour tubers the seedlings produce. Let's also hope there's some variation in maturation times. In my dreams I see a day-neutral black oca........