Susan W
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Jerusalem artichokes

I am pondering Jerusalem artichokes aka sunchokes. I have an area that gets enough sun, is not utilized now. I have grown them, not in this yard, and it has been many years. One concern is they may get too tall and shade what I need for sunny area! I did a google and came up with 6' plants (approx) and hit search on this forum, and saw 10'. Yikes!

Any growers here? comments or suggestions?

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floridahillnursery
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Hello I have had them get 10' here in Florida. Once established they can sure be a pest to remove.

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rainbowgardener
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Yes. Mine are in good soil in a flower bed and they get easily 10' tall, probably a bit more. They tend to get top heavy and topple over at that point, so they need staking.

Every fall I pull them ALL. The tubers that get left behind in the soil after pulling them are plenty to replenish the supply for next year. If I didn't pull them all, they would rapidly take over the bed they are in.

See also

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=230817#230817

for information about eating them.

Susan W
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Thanks for tips folks. I wasn't aware that eating a decent amount, say using like potatoes caused the tummy distress. I have sliced them in things towards end of cooking, used like water chestnuts.

I thought of a couple of ways to utilize this otherwise weedy space. The rear fence is now covered with wisteria. I am looking to saw away at the trunks, huge vines so new growth should be limited, sorta. I can easily utilize about 4 x 8' for something, preferably looking at marketable. One problem with sun chokes is they get so big, I'll ignore or not check the junk on the fence, and will be over-run again. If I have a smaller plant will see what's going on, and may tend to it. I have a couple of ideas, but that's another post!

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jal_ut
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How about a row of zucchini and crookneck squash?

Susan W
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Thanks for the squash suggestion, but no thanks! They need lots of space, which I do have some, have horrible bug problems, and every other vendor has them at the market. I buy a couple each week just for my own consumption.

I am looking at a couple of the larger herb varieties including lemon verbena.

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applestar
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Lemon verbena is nice. I have to bring mine in every winter but the fragrance is heavenly. You might also consider lemongrass? They get huge and I love them. I've increased my stock and am hoping to use them like ornamental grass in my frond yard edible landscape project. You could definitely sell them with Thai and Vietnamese herbs. Do you grow Thai lime (for leaves) and ginger? How about the other ginger relative -- umm... Is it galanga?

GardenGnome
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I know you want to put horseradish in pots and that asparagus need to be bricked and can spread. But artichokes alos do this hmm I have about 10 plants I can put in the ground is this a bad idea? I've seen the peoples plant across the street is wild and doesn't move much is it the root system that moves?

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!potatoes!
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gnome, the jerusalem artichokes that people were talking about earlier in this thread are not the same as the artichokes you're talking about...assuming you're talking about a cynara...jerusalem artichokes are closer the sunflowers, helianthus tuberosus.

susan - there are 'dwarf' sunchoke varieties...but the names are eluding me at present. e. toensmeier talks about one in his perennial veg. book...sun ray? something like that? supposed to be 4-6 feet. I've grown a number of varieties, any they've all been in the 6-9 ft range.

GardenGnome
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Awwww :(
My and my wife love roasted garlic and were hoping you could do that with a artichoke.
Thanks for clearing that up for me. What do sunchokes taste like roasted? Maybe I can grow them in a box so they don't take over.

GardenGnome
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So there are 2 Jerusalem artichokes one a artichoke/thistle and one a tuber/sunflower?
How confusing

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soil
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no there are not two Jerusalem artichokes.

there are Jerusalem artichokes, aka sunchokes, which are related to sunflowers.

then there are globe artichokes, aka the ones you buy in the store, they are related to thistle.

the only thing they share is the name artichoke. and nothing else as far as your need to care about.

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rainbowgardener
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The sunchokes are a bland starch, not that different from potatoes. I haven't roasted them, but I have mashed them like potatoes and I have boiled them in soup.

GardenGnome
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I think have emerald and green globe artichokes then.

I looked online alittle and found 1.5 pounds of Jerusalem artichokes.
For $25 idk if I want to pay that much there was a place cheaper but won't ship to ca.

ruggr10
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oikostreecrops.com has a few different types and the price is pretty good. most of their products are native to north america and I've had great luck with them.

Susan W
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GG check your local grocers, especially those with good produce. Even those can be hit or miss. Delivery day far better than at the end of cycle!

GardenGnome
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Dam it my wife said that also.
If I can't. Find some I might go with these
https://oikostreecrops.com/store/product.asp?P_ID=895&PT_ID=80&strPageHistory=cat

GardenGnome
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So I think killed the ones I ordered. Anyone have some to sell cheap or trade? Thanks.



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