Odd Duck
Senior Member
Posts: 114
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:34 pm
Location: DFW, TX

Anyone have good info or links on varieties of sunchokes?

I've searched all over the place and I'm having trouble finding anything but the most basic information on sunchokes (Helianthus tuberosa) AKA Jerusalem artichokes, sun roots, etc. All the links seem to go to the same few places that don't really have much in regard to different varieties. I read that there are up to 200 varieties, but I can only find 6 or 7 available commercially. What I'm not really finding is a lot of info on how the varieties compare flavor-wise, growth habits, heat tolerance, etc.

Anyone have any great links that will help me decide which variety to plant (since this is probably a life-time planting? And/or sources where I might purchase just a few tubers? Do I really have to pick only between those 6 or 7 varieties I've found so far?

There's got to be a sunchoke expert somewhere, that would joyously expound upon the varieties available, be able to tell me exactly which would like my Texas heat and where I can find them.

Thanks in advance for any help.

TZ -OH6
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2097
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Mid Ohio

This is the best I could find when I was looking for them

https://www.oikostreecrops.com/store/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=136&strPageHistory=cat



At the time, they were out so I ordered White Fuseau from Ronninger's /Potato garden

I have eaten Stampede from the grocery store and like the flavor (very sweet) but I have heavy clay soil so I wanted a variety with fewer knobs so that I could clean them easier. My plants were blown over in a wind storm so I tasted a couple before frost killed them back and they tasted nasty and left a lingering taste in my mouth. I went back after frost and the flavor was much improved but not as sweet as I remember the Stampede, but that could have been due to my conditions or the damage to the plants.

The deer love these things, which is good and bad. After getting inside the garden fence the deer would heavily munch on the Sunchoke plant, but then (being full?) not do as much damage to the other plants (?). I guess I rather have deer munch on a 10 ft tall sunchoke than on several 2 ft pepper plant.

To keep them from escaping I grew mine in a raised "bed" made from two connected sheet metal window guards (semicircular things that hold soil away from ground level basement windows).

User avatar
!potatoes!
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1938
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:13 pm
Location: wnc - zones 6/7 line

oikos has the most varieties I've seen. I've grown stampede for years, and its knobbliness does make it a bit harder to clean. the property I'm currently living on has several naturalized stands that I've been digging from - much less knobs, slightly milder flavor. have some red rover in the ground, but have no experience yet with it while it's growing. I'm hoping to get a a little cross-breeding going on with these three varieties next year (from what I understand, they only rarely set viable seed (since they're so good at vegetative reproduction), but do it much more readily when different varieties are bred together.



Return to “Vegetable Gardening Forum”