Growing Jerusalem artichokes from the supermarket

[arpoet]

If anybody close to me wants to collect a few tubers, let me know. Ive got em stored in peat in the greenhouse.... loads of em.
Roger

[Kristen]

Dunno if it is what they have in the supermarkets? but the variety Fuseau is worth finding, to then grow your own, as it is less knobbly and easier to peel. Maybe that's the only variety that exists though and I've been kidding myself for years?!

[alldigging]

I wonder why they aren't more popular. They are heavy producer plants and they seem to be almost pest and disease free.

I can't eat them without thinking about this poem.


Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime... Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. - See more at: Dulce et Decorum Est- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More


The gas is a major factor for most people.
TBH though if you were starving you'd eat them quite happily.

[spanish_gardener]

Might well have been a Mediterranean variety - which would need a lot more warmth than we get here most years That's a risk of buying Supermarket varieties ...

My suggestion would be to buy a decent, UK grown,variety suitable for your location, which will cost a fair bit, and thereafter to keep & re-plant your own from that (provided that you don't have any disease). Some people say that Garlic adapts over several generations, so over time it will adapt to better suit your conditions - although you need to start with a suitable variety in the first place

Hi Kristen! It was just an experiment. However, last December I bought the proper garlic from the garden centre, Marcos garlic I think, and it started to grow beautifully then it all went wrong. The garlic cloves are being eaten by wee tiny white worms. The previous owner grew potatoes in what is now my plot, from 2008 up to the last summer. I'm definitely not going to try growing alliums this year.

[spanish_gardener]

Thanks everyone who has replied so far. Will post more updates in the next months.

[Kristen]

it started to grow beautifully then it all went wrong. The garlic cloves are being eaten by wee tiny white worms.

How very annoying Sorry, I don't know if the Potatoes may have harboured the worms although in conventional crop rotation I think Onions follow Spuds

[spanish_gardener]

It's very surprising to find anything unusual here. Today I bought some Jerusalem artichokes in Sainsburys and I was wondering if I can grow one of them... Last year I sow different garlic cloves from the supermarket and most of them failed. I would love to grow JA as I know is fairly easy because it is such a hardy plant. I don't want to buy tubers at seed sites because my plot is very small and I only have space for a two or three of JA plants. Should I give it a try or I shouldn't bother? Thank you.

I have dug three of them already and they have produce a heavy crop. Happy days!

[Noosner]

That's good news, Spanish gardener, well done!

On the garlic front, I'm doing a big garlic experiment this year with supermarket garlic included with seed garlic of various varieties that was proper expensive at £2.99 a bulb.

So far all the posh seed garlic (2 x Carcasonne Wight, 2 x Early Purple Wight and 1 x Lautrec Wight) looks excellent - it shot straight up.

But the supermarket stuff has come up too, and isn't looking bad.

Last and least is my own garlic replanted (Germidour) which has come up but only eventually and is looking weedy.

We'll see how all this translates into an actual crop next year...

[chris]

They're really nice roasted- they sort of go all gooey and lovely.

They give me a really bad stomach though, and then the obviously side effects too (don't really need any extra help in that department mind).