Topic: jerusalem Artichokes

[sid]

Jerusalem artichoke's so i have been told when they grow ther around 5 to 6 ft tall and have a flower like a sun flower tryed one dident like it just use them to stop the wind on the allotment and for the flower looking for gint onion to grow for the grand kids

[Eristic]

You must have done something seriously wrong to keep them at 5-6 ft tall.



I was a bit disappionted with the lack of height with mine. They are supposed to be 5 metres.

[Barnowl]

I was a bit disappionted with the lack of height with mine. They are supposed to be 5 metres.

Hi Eristic. Where did the 5m / 16ft figure come from? Ours grow to around 8-9ft and judging by the cars at the edge of the photo, I would say that your JA's are about 9-10ft high.

There are quite a few Jerusalem Artichoke beds around our allotments and many are not very high at all - about 5-6 ft. I would estimate the average height is around 7-8 ft.   I think yours are pretty much as high as they'll go and you've done well.

Isn't the weight of the crop amazing in relation to the bed area?

[Eristic]

I can assure you all that on the day that photo was taken the tallest plants were just over the 4 metre mark but that is not important because they are way way short of any record. Having now lifted 10 roots I can confirm that over 21 kilos have made it back to the kitchen. (Also way short of any record.)

The real question is: Does anybody want any? Answers on a pm. They all have to be dug up before February to enable the bed to be cultivated ready for next years 15 footers.

[saddad]

T+M's Dwarf Sunray only reaches about 9' in a good year, My Fuseau have reached 12'...
 8)

[sid]

the artichokes were from a plot that had nothing done wit them just left to their own never fed or watered he had that Many he just throw them all away must of been hundreds i am just going to use the for a wind brake and the flowers but still loads left

[saddad]

If you don't dig them out you get more stems but progressively smaller tubers from the crowding, more effective as a wind break though... ( :-[ No lavatorial humour intended)

[Barnowl]

Come to think of it, so far I've trimmed back our JA's (Fuseau) once they start flowering, but 15 ft still seems amazing.

Ours at 9-10ft are are probably the tallest but that may be because of Saddad's point:  I actually clear the bed each year before re-planting in Feb-March but I suspect many others don't dig them out at all.

Also our allotments do have a bit of a hardpan about 2 spits down right across the site; it was originally scraped clear by bulldozers then after the allotmenteers protested some topsoil was brought in. Wonder if that's the reason?

On a separate point, some people on our site say that you should cut the tops off if they start to flower in order to stop energy going into the flowers that could be fed back down to the tubers during the die back phase.

[louise stella]

If anyone wants some - PM me!

Louise