How To Grow Jerusalem Artichokes?

It is a perennial relative of the summer sunflower which bears attractive, bright, yellow flowers. The Jerusalem artichokes are grown for their delicious knobbly tubers, which are harvested in the fall. They are very easy to grow and they form a sizable clump in a season. It is best to keep them confined, because of not, they can become invasive. This vegetable are best grown on larger plots and not in containers.

Jerusalem artichokes are planted as bare tubers, which can be brought from seed supplies or maybe a supermarket. Before the tubers are planted in early spring, the ground has to be dug up to remove all weeds. The tubers needs to be planted six inches deep, and space them twelve inches apart each way. Large tubers can be cut into two to three pieces, with each piece having a distinct growing bud. Cover each tuber with soil, and water the tubers in.

The routine care of them arethe shoots will appear after a few weeks. Once the plants are eight to twelve inches  high, put the soil around the plants to help support the stems. The plants need to be kept well watered, especially very dry periods, because if this is not done, the tubers will become extremely knobby and small ones.    If the soil is light, a thick mulch needs to be appl, so the moisture is retain. The plants need to be weeded while the plants are young, the plants will be able to compete with most neighboring plants after they get big.

The Jerusalem artichoke stems are sturdy, but may need some support until they grow to full height. Tall stakes need to be put around the edge of the clump or bed, about six feet high and tie a string around them to form a flexible frame. This helps to keep the plants tidy. If there are any stems that are damaged by the wind, the stems need to be cut using clippers.

In late summer, the tall stems, need to be cut back to five feet high to prevent them from rocking in the wind and loosening the tubers. While this is being done, the yield can be maximize by removing all the flowers, which will divert the energy away from the developing tubers if this is not done at the same time.
In the fall, when the leaves begin to turn yellow, the plants will start to take nutrients down the stem to store in the tubers, which means that they are almost ready to harvest. Once the leaves begin to yellow or fall, the stems need to be cut below 12 inches in height.

The Jerusalem artichoke tubers should be lifted as required. Because they have relatively thin skins and they do not store very well, which means they are best left in the ground and then dig up as they are needed. Any tubers left in the ground will regrow the following year, but if another crop of them are going to be grown in the same location, thoroughly dig the whole site to make sure that they are all remove by the end of the winter.