2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Jerusalem artichoke is an absolutely undemanding culture, capable of producing a very solid crop of tubers every season with proper care. The homeland of the root crop is North America, and in Russia it first appeared only in the 18th century. This amazing plant is called differently: Jerusalem artichoke, earthen pear, solar root. In appearance, the tubers of this wonderful plant, which have not only healing properties, but also a great taste, are similar to ginger root
A few words about Jerusalem artichoke
This culture is the closest relative of the sunflower (Asteraceae family). The plant is perennial, sometimes reaching a height of three meters and having hard, rough leaves and straight thin stems. Knotted tubers, suitable for human consumption, are attached to its roots. They ripen in autumn, are brown, yellowish or reddish in color, and are completely ready for use after the first frost. Jerusalem artichoke is quite cold-resistant - its tubers can perfectly winter in the ground. Crop in cold regions can be harvested in early spring or autumn, and in warmer regions throughout the winter. The green bushes of this plant are able to withstand frosts down to -5 C, and the tubers under the ground are not afraid of frost even at -40 C.
Growing
It is incredibly simple to grow this crop: someone does it in containers of a rather solid size or in tubs with drainage, and someone plants an earthen pear in open ground. It is planted with tubers, by analogy with potatoes; for planting, even tubers of a rather small size are selected. This crop is usually planted in late April or early May (the planting dates also resemble the planting dates for potatoes). As for containers, when planting an earthen pear, they are needed in order to limit the excessive spread of plants (absolutely any piece of a tuber left in the soil is capable of germinating and multiplying). When growing this plant in containers, you need to water it regularly.
For growing Jerusalem artichoke, loose soils are most preferred (ideally, with a slightly alkaline reaction). In general, this plant will grow well and bear fruit equally well in absolutely any soil. But still, it is better to abandon the idea of planting an earthen pear on heavy soils and salt marshes. When planting Jerusalem artichoke, the soil should be mixed with various phosphorus fertilizers: fish bone meal or bone meal, dried droppings, etc. For the tubers to ripen successfully, the plant needs at least 125 days without frost throughout the season.
In the first weeks after planting, to ensure normal aeration, the soil should be loosened, removing weeds from the plantings and row spacing. The best crop of tubers will be provided by periodic hilling (when the Jerusalem artichoke reaches a height of 40 - 50 cm), for which garden compost or some other organic mulch is used. And as soon as the plant reaches a height of 80 - 100 cm, they also begin to tie it up. For this, wire supports with base posts made of wood or metal are suitable.
Also, an earthen pear in the middle of summer is shortened to one and a half to two meters. When flower heads appear, it is best to cut them off so that the plant does not have to spend its energy on flowering with the subsequent formation of seeds.
Reproduction
It is easier to propagate an earthen pear in the spring. This is done using tubers that have wintered in the ground, which are cut or left intact. It should be noted that on each segment of the tuber for subsequent reproduction there should be 2 - 3 buds. The tubers are planted at a distance of 30 cm from each other to a depth of about 10 - 15 cm. As soon as the height of the greenery of young plants reaches 30 cm, Jerusalem artichoke must be spud. The most abundant harvest from this plant (with large tubers) is obtained during the first four to five years (for example, a three-year-old well-groomed bush yields about 1, 5 - 2 buckets), and subsequently the tubers begin to slowly shrink. Jerusalem artichoke can grow in one place without damage to the soil for 30 - 40 years.
Storage
The tubers of this unusual crop require high humidity during storage. Therefore, it is best to store them wrapped in a damp cloth in the refrigerator (more precisely, in the vegetable compartment) for no more than one to two weeks.
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