Mauka: The Next Generation

Here's a quick update on the mauka seedlings which hatched just over a month ago. Their growth has been rapid to say the least and they are in need of hardening off and planting out.

You may not be able to see it, but the 'Roja' seedlings are developing red stems, whereas the 'Blanca' ones are green - they apparently cleave unto themselves as regards stem colour, although I've no idea about any other, more subtle characteristics. What I do know for sure is this: simple daylength manipulation is enough to get the plants to flower and set seed. The fact that the seeds show excellent viability and produce vigorous seedlings leads me to stick my neck out and say that breeding mauka is going to be one of the easier gigs for Radix.

Given mauka's ability to thrive in windy, dry areas, this is probably a good thing - we've had virtually no rain for months and a strong, cold wind has been an almost constant irritation. I could moan, but what's the point? Taking my lead from luminaries such as Sigmund Freud, Billy Connolly and Alfred Wainwright, I lay out my philosophy thus: there's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate root crops.