Helianthus tuberosus
Jerusalem artichoke
Common names: topinambur, earth pear
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 40 cm, rows 70 cm
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Planting
- Mar–Apr
- Harvest
- Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −20 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Jerusalem artichoke is a hardy sunflower relative whose knobby tubers taste nutty-sweet and can remain in the ground throughout the winter. The plant can grow over two meters tall, blooms late with yellow flowers, and spreads vigorously, give it its own corner.
Care instructions
Plant the tubers in March or April about ten centimeters deep; thereafter, Jerusalem artichoke requires little care. When wind is strong, add a small amount of soil to the tall stems. Harvest from October as needed; when digging, deliberately leave some small tubers in the ground if you wish to preserve the crop, otherwise remove all tubers, because any forgotten tuber will sprout anew in spring.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
PlantingMar–Apr
HarvestJan–Mar, Oct–Dec
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, loamy, well-drained, humus-rich, nutrient-rich
Jerusalem artichoke likes loose, sandy-loamy soil with good drainage and does not tolerate waterlogging. Loosen heavy clay soils with mature compost before planting; poor sites are tolerated, but on nutrient-rich soil it forms noticeably more tubers.
Lettuce and other daisy-family plants are light to moderate feeders; a break of about 3 years is enough, and they work well as gap fillers between the main crops.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
In spring before planting (March to mid-April), work mature compost shallowly into the soil. On poor soils you can also rake in some horn shavings on the surface, which release nitrogen slowly. Do not be too generous with nitrogen: an excess drives foliage at the expense of tubers and harms storability.
Overwintering
Simply leave the tubers in the ground. Jerusalem artichoke comes through lowland winters in Central Europe without trouble and without protection, and even tastes more aromatic after frost. After the first frost, cut the dead stems back close to the ground, harvest straight from the bed as needed and leave a few tubers for new growth in spring.
Propagation
Methods
- Offsets
- Division
You propagate Jerusalem artichoke practically only from tubers: either whole small tubers or divided pieces of larger tubers with at least one eye (shoot bud). Plant the tubers in spring (mid-March to the end of April) or alternatively in autumn (October to November) about 8 to 10 cm deep in loose, humus-rich soil; leave 50 to 60 cm between tubers, because the plant spreads vigorously. After the autumn harvest, simply put a few of the smallest tubers straight back in the bed; this way the stand establishes itself year after year. You can divide large tubers: make sure each piece has one to two eyes, and plant the pieces promptly so they do not dry out. Tubers you do not plant at once, store cool and dry, otherwise they lose vitality. When harvesting, deliberately leave a few tubers in the ground; new plants sprout from them the next spring. Sowing from seed is not practical in Central European climates, because the plant flowers late and the seeds usually do not ripen here; this method is left to the breeding of new varieties.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
Rather not
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For signed-in gardeners
Sign in to see symptoms, severity, season and prevention for every one of your plants.
Free account, set up in 30 seconds.
For your garden
Grow Jerusalem artichoke yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
Free, no time limit
Notes from real gardens
What other gardeners have written down about this variety, anonymous and voluntary.
No notes shared yet. Will you be the first to write one down?