Okay you can grow potatoes in containers so can you given something to support them (eg grown against a fence) grow jerusalem artichokes in containers?
I suppose what I really need to ask is what sort of amount does one plant produce? how much space/what size tub would be big enough? Would it just be a case of the smaller the tub the smaller the yield?
I am growing the vast majority of stuff in my tiny garden and given the patio area I need to grow most things in pots. This also means I don't have to dig my heavy clay soil. I thought the foliage might be nice to hide the fence/wall aswell as producing some food. Also if they are in pots I wouldn't have to worry about them getting missed and coming up again if I don't want them in the same place next year.
Almost forgot to ask. Joy Larkom says to plant late winter to mid spring and another book I have says spring so would I be able to plant now or is it better to wait a few weeks?
Use the biggest container you can get; those things are like big sunflowers. They'll be really top-heavy too. But try it and see. You can plant now.
Dwarf Sunray is supposed to be the shortest variety... growing to no more than 2m... my book says most varieties flower only in about 1 out of 5 years (during Indian summers) but DS will flower apparently unfailingly evening in the shortest summer. The book says it is easy to get rid of them if required. Wait until the following spring when any stragglers start shooting, then dig them up!!! The book is "Growing Unusual Vegetables" by Simon Hickmott.
Yeah I know they are really tall the plan was to grow against a fence and tie them to it so they won't blow around or topple over.
When I was allotmenting on a really windy plot, I cut the stems down to about 4 ft just as they were about to flower, and it didn't seem to hurt the chokes when it came to harvest time. Read it somewhere!
My book says to keep them 5-6.5ft to concentrate energy in the tubers so that means they will get to the top of my fence and I'll keep them that height. It says to remove flower buds aswell so what you say sounds about right.
I am growing jerusalem artichokes for the first time this year, so all these comments are well appreciated by myself as well.
Just found an interesting site:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Helianthus+tuberosus
Also this little snippet of info that could be useful ;D :-[ ;D ;)
"a cure for the wind caused by the Jerusalem Artichokes - a cup of fennel tea or a shot of cider vinegar stops the reaction in the gut."
My artichokes flower every year, and grow about eight or nine feet high. I hadn't thought of cutting them back.