The content of the article
How to grow Jerusalem artichoke? Many will now say - why raise him when he himself perfectly exists and without outside help? Yes, in the absence of control, an earthen pear quickly develops neighboring lands. Sometimes it grows into a whole forest. But we are interested in large succulent tubers, not green mass. And with such cultivation, let go by chance, it is unlikely to get a good harvest. A forest of greens will grow mighty, but tubers will be small and hard. Yes, and torment torment.
Therefore, today we will figure out how to grow Jerusalem artichoke, and not its stems.
When to plant Jerusalem artichoke
Absolutely all sources recommend planting tubers in the spring. It is advised to coincide with this lesson at the time of planting potatoes. And right there they say that in order to get a high-quality harvest of earthen pear, you need at least 130-140 days of the growing season. And when to clean it? On New Year's holidays?
But the Jerusalem artichoke tubers fully tolerate frosts down to -35 ° C, being at a depth of only 16-18 cm. In this case, no additional shelter is required. If desired, you can throw snow on top, but this is not necessary. The aboveground part survives with return frosts to -6 ° C.
So why not plant Jerusalem artichoke in the fall? Then in the spring it will start to grow earlier; accordingly, you will harvest the crop earlier too. In addition, in the land of tubers are well preserved until spring. And the spring earthen pear tastes much nicer than the autumn one. But dug in the fall and sent for storage to the cellar or refrigerator - only two months. Then they begin to fade and deteriorate.
Rule 1. Plant Jerusalem artichoke in late September or early October. We focus on the time of planting garlic.
Which Jerusalem artichoke to plant
Some cunning comrades sell supposedly table varieties over the Internet. But people believe, buy, grow. How to distinguish? No way. Only on the stems during the growing season. In fodder varieties they reach 3 meters in height, in canteens - not more than 1.8 meters. Fodder tubers are small, canteen grow to 500 g.
By the way, there are no table Jerusalem artichoke seeds in the Russian registry. Therefore, it will have to be smuggled. Or grow fodder.
Rule 2. If possible, get a good tuber for planting. The difference in taste is palpable.
Where to plant Jerusalem artichoke
Most sources recommend planting an earthen pear along the edge of the garden. There is no doubt about how this culture is good at rocket land. Protects from wind and prying eyes. But, if you leave even one of the smallest tuber or root in the ground, then you are tormented to fight the plant. Its spread is an epidemic.
Therefore, it must be planted strictly in the designated place. It is advisable to fence a bed 50 cm in depth. It can be boards, slate, tin, plexiglass, thick plastic. In a word, everything that is impervious to roots. Good results give half-buried old barrels half-buried in the ground without a bottom. Tubers are planted in them, taken care of and watered. And when the time comes for harvesting, they just dump the contents of the barrel out. Everyone, even the tiniest roots, will be in sight.
Rule 3. Be sure to enclose plantations of Jerusalem artichoke deep in the ground with solid materials.
What land is suitable for Jerusalem artichoke
Absolutely any. It grows well on all types of soil.But, if we need large tubers, then we need to thoroughly prepare the soil for planting. We will plant in the fall, so we will prepare the land in the spring.
To do this, add well-rotted manure or ready-made compost. Plus pour sand and humus. It can be replaced with oily garden soil. All this mix well. Now you can leave the ground to ripen before the fall, and there already plant.
It is recommended to deepen the tuber by about 13-14 cm. This is in spring. We plant in the winter. Therefore, we dig a hole about 20 cm deep. At the bottom we throw a handful of onion husks and half a tablespoon of ash. Pour 1-1.5 liters of pure water and put the tuber. Which side doesn’t matter. The plant itself will figure out where the top or bottom. It will not grow under the ground for sure. But, if you are tormented by strong doubts, then just put the earthen pear on the barrel. So you definitely won't be mistaken.
After that, we fill the Jerusalem artichoke with the prepared earthen mixture, pressing it a little with palms. Strongly do not ram! On top of the landing, we spill again with plain water. Then lightly mulch with peat, old sawdust, hay. You can simply sprinkle with dry soil or clean sand.
That's all, now remember the earthen pear only in the spring, when the snow comes down.
Rule 4. In the fall they plant Jerusalem artichoke deeper than in spring. So the tuber will calmly endure the frosty winter.
How to care for Jerusalem artichoke
In spring, as soon as the snow melts and the top layer of soil dries out a little, you need to loosen the earth crust. In this case, it is not necessary to wait for the first shoots. By the time they appear, the surface of the earth is already very much dull. Therefore, you will have to loosen after every rain. But, this is only up to a shoot height of 30-35 cm. Further, the stems will cope on their own.
Approximately until the green mass reaches a length of about half a meter, weeds must be weeded. After this time, the plants will obscure all uncultivated herbs. You can no longer weed.
As soon as the height of the stems is approximately 40 cm, you will need to properly cover Jerusalem artichoke with ordinary earth. Sprinkle the stems with a knoll at least 20 cm high. This will allow the formation of additional tubers, which increases the yield. Plus additional support for tall greenery.
Many Jerusalem artichoke grows like a weed. That is, by itself. And the crop is corresponding. Many small woody nodules. At the same time, they grow clumsy, and during cleaning, most of it goes to waste.
In these thickets, many pests feel great. For example, a bear, wireworm and slugs are completely freely eaten even by small coarse tubers. Therefore, the growth of Jerusalem artichoke must be taken under control. And take care correctly.
The most important thing is watering and feeding. For example, to get large juicy tubers, you need to pour about 5-7 liters of plain pure water under a bush about once a week. With severe drought, watering is increased. Of course, you don’t need to water during rain.
In order not to carry liquid in tanks, providing planting with moisture, it is better to plant three bushes, and not five beds. With proper care, one bush of earthen pear gives a bucket of beautiful smooth tubers. So it’s better to take good care of them than to tear on a whole forest of Jerusalem artichoke and collect the same crop.
Top dressing. For the first time, the plant will have enough manure or compost that was brought into the soil. But the most filling and growth of tubers occurs during flowering. For tubers, potassium is very important. But nitrogen is undesirable. It causes a rapid growth of greenery, but why, if without it the tops will be huge.
Therefore, every three weeks, starting from the moment of bud formation, we fertilize Jerusalem artichoke with a small dose of any complex mineral fertilizer. In late August, we stop feeding at all.
How much fertilizer to apply? We focus on the manufacturer's instructions. We select the column "for potatoes".Do not increase the dosage! Then you still have to eat these tubers.
What kind of fertilizer to take? Any mineral. We look at structure on packing. Potassium and phosphorus should prevail. It is better to completely exclude nitrogen.
Props. If there are strong winds in your area in the summer, we strongly recommend that you tie the Jerusalem artichoke stalks to a strong support. It happens that in bad weather they break down near the ground itself. No, an earthen pear continues to grow and pour tubers even with a broken stem. But the harvest will already be much smaller. And aesthetically it is ugly - the shoots lying on the ground.
If you have a large landing area, then it turns out too long and it’s expensive to tie each bush. In this case, it makes sense to use special wooden or metal supports for lush bushes. In this case, you can immediately cram a dozen stems into one. A slight slope will not hurt them at all, and you will save time, your own strength and money.
Useful Tips
- There are recommendations to pick flowers from Jerusalem artichoke. Allegedly they pull all the nutrients and juices from the tubers. This is fundamentally false statement. Juices leave the tubers when seed ripening begins. But during flowering, an earthen pear is poured and grows. As soon as the flowers dry, the tubers stop growing in size. That is, if you break flower baskets, then you can not wait for large tubers. Then collect small peas.
- We recommend that you give Jerusalem artichoke to bloom yourself on time. But wilted flowers can be easily cut without waiting for the formation of seeds. Such agricultural technology only benefits the plant.
- Other sources advise trimming the stems in mid-July to a height of 1.6-1.7 meters. What's the point? With this pruning, you will deprive the plant of some of the shoots. But they could still participate in the process of photosynthesis and supply tubers with nutrients. It is not in vain that nature created stems of such height for an earthen pear. This means that the plant needs them for normal full vegetation.
- If for any reason you are sick of planting Jerusalem artichoke in separate containers, then feel free to plant it in rows. The landing pattern is 25 cm by 50 cm. The care will be identical. Only when harvesting, be sure to choose absolutely all the tubers and the smallest roots. Otherwise, an unpleasant surprise will be waiting for you next spring: a young shoot of Jerusalem artichoke with a slender brush will occupy your land. Sometimes an earthen pear emerges where it would seem that they no longer wait for it.
- Let's say that you managed to get the planting material of Jerusalem artichoke table variety. And I want to get a big crop right away. What to do? Do not panic or rack your brains. Count the buds on the tuber. For example, there are 6 of them. Feel free to cut the pear into 3 parts, with two eyes on each. Then powder the slices with powdered charcoal and plant as usual. As a result, you will have not one bush, but three. Accordingly, the harvest will be three times as much.
- Mealy pear can sometimes be affected by powdery mildew. In this case, any suitable systemic fungicide is used. Heavily affected plants are taken out of the area and destroyed.
How to grow Jerusalem artichoke? This is completely uncomplicated. A little care, good planting material - and now you have several buckets of high-quality and useful tubers in stock.
Video: how to grow Jerusalem artichoke
Submit
I saw large and beautiful Jerusalem artichoke tubers on sale in the Lenta store (in St. Petersburg).Can I take them for landing? If possible, then do I need to process them somehow? Thank you very much for your information on Jerusalem artichoke.
Finally, an article was found where the myth of the benefits of picking flowers is dispelled.