Jerusalem artichoke - quick question

James · Post by **James** » 05 Apr 2009, 16:47

Hello,

I planted some jerusalem artichoke in November in a part of the garden that the chickens roam. I have seen how fast growing it is and hoped it would survive with the chickens.

Does any one know when it starts to grow? - I have seen no shoots so far

Thanks

Orfy · Post by **Orfy** » 05 Apr 2009, 18:50

Not sure James but if you know where it is why don't you put some chicken wire round it?

silky · Post by **silky** » 05 Apr 2009, 20:12

Jerusalem Artichokes are normally planted at this time of year and you lift them for eating December onwards. However, when your plants start to show (and it should be any time now) I would protect them from the chickens until they are about 2 foot high.

When you lift them, if you leave any in the ground they will come up the following year. I planted mine to protect the rest of the allotment plants from the wind as they grow to be about 8 foot high and are a sturdy plant.

dogcatcher · Post by **dogcatcher** » 05 Apr 2009, 21:40

Any day now. I planted some out in a field last year but the deer cropped all the new shoots and I lost them, so as others have said I'd put some wire round them until the shoots are above beak height. At the other end of the season cut the flowers off so more goes back into the tuber.

lancashire lass · Post by **lancashire lass** » 06 Apr 2009, 12:01

silky wrote:I planted mine to protect the rest of the allotment plants from the wind as they grow to be about 8 foot high and are a sturdy plant.

yes, they do grow about 8 foot tall, but they also need support against the wind! I have mine right at the back of the allotment against the fence ... no matter how good you are at digging them up, like all tuber like plants, there's always a couple that get missed and they come up again the following year.

Re: when? ... any day now, but remember we've had it really cold this winter, so although things feel like it is getting spring like, the temperature of the soil will still be fairly cold, especially if you planted the tubers a fair depth down.