Jerusalem Artichokes

[Morff]

Hi All,
We got our plot in January and after an awful lot of hard work we are at the planting stage. I've put some Jerusalem Artichokes in because I just love them, but I'm not sure how long it shoud be before they appear. Can anyone give me any clues?

Many thanks,
Cath

[Nicos]

Stand back.........

( won't be too long ...)

[Two_Sheds]

Mine are shooting now. I don't know where you are in the country? Can you put your location (roughly) in your profile?

[piskieinboots]

mine only took a couple weeks to show through - as Nicos says 'stand back' else you'll get a JA sprout in ya face

[Morff]

HI,
Thanks for the replies. I'm in Cheshire where it is wet and we've had a fair bit of snow this year. The artichokes went in three weeks ago, so am I being a bit impatient? I thought they would come up really quickly as I am aware they are 'vigorous' plants.

Thanks again,
Cath

[Nicos]

You're round the corner- literally- from me !!
My JA's are still below the ground!
We are off on hols today, but I expect they'll be up when we get back.

[Morff]

Ooohhh.... where is your plot??? We are in Alderley on Chorley Hall Lane. We took over a real mess of a plot in January. I'm relieved your JAs are the same as mine. I was thinking the OH had sabbotaged them because he doesn't like them.

Have a lovely holiday, and thanks for the reply.

Cath

[TonyF]

Cath, make sure that whereever you've planted them they'll be restricted - don't know if you know but they're like a rampant weed, so no problems with year on year growth, all you have to do is leave a few in the ground.

[nelliegemini]

Mine are just showing today and are planted in a small raised bed and were replanted from when we took our final crop in March. Last year they rocketed up and I had to chop them back to about 4' because they were rocking so badly in the summer gales.

Cutting them back just made them angry. They actually had snails in them looking down at me - even the assorted molluscs couldn't control them. Great as a windbreak but you have to be careful as they steal light (not that we had much to start with).

[TonyF]

The best way to control them, other than restricting the roots is to grow them like sunflowers (to which they are related) and tie them onto wires, fixed to posts.

[Morff]

Thanks for the advice. They are in a raised bed which was built specifically for JAs. They are going to mask the compost heap and are away from our other raised beds so shade won't be an issue.

I hope mine do get rampant. I'm really greedy for them and can't wait! Do you guys have any tips on how to store them?

[FoxHillGardener]

I don't think they store very well once you've dug them up so leave them in place and dig as needed. You can cover the soil with straw or something to insulate through the winter so you can actually get them out; difficult to dig the ground when it's frozen solid

ps, Mine went in on 30 March and no sign yet

[wellie]

I planted five tubers last Spring in a special long thin raised bed along the boundary of our potager garden. They did take a while to show out of the soil, but as they did, I 'earthed them up' (like potatoes, as my book instructed) with well-rotted manure and compost, and as TonyF says, tied them to post & wires. They grew somewhere between 10 and 12 feet, and I had to get on top of Trousers's tallest stepladders to cut the tips out (to stop them flowering, allegedly to improve the yield).

I weighed the harvest from just one tuber (see my blog Autumn '07) and there was a whopping 9.5 kilos. So I sincerely hope you DO like them!

They make brilliant soup, and I do a rather yummy Red Onion & JA Gratin too.
Happy Fartichoke Growing!

PS. They do keep a while in the Fridge in a plastic bag I found?

[nerobot]

PLanted mine first of last month and no sign of them yet. One might be coming through, but might be a weed. First time growing them so not sure what they look like when young. Does anyone have a picture of them shooting so that I could compair them.

Steven

[nelliegemini]

Well I've tried but they are so small I can't get close enough - just get really blurred pictures (must read handbook)! The leaves are slightly serrated and hairy if that is any help!