Incredible Hybrids. Jerusalem Artichoke. Growing

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Recent breeding has made great strides forward. Hybrids of interspecific crossing began to appear more often. A bright representative of this trend is Jerusalem artichoke. What kind of plant is hidden behind such a mysterious name? How to cultivate it? We will try to answer all questions

Biological description

Perennial plant of the Astrov family. The height of the bush is 2m or more, depending on the growing conditions. Stems are thin, erect, branched. Up to 5 lateral branches appear on 1 plant. Elongated-oval leaves are pointed at the ends, denticles are clearly visible along the edges, and are covered with hard hairs over the entire surface. The petioles are long.

The roots are fibrous, reaching up to 2 meters deep, extracting water for the culture from the underlying horizons, increasing its drought resistance. At the ends in summer, fleshy thickenings-tubers with a white or slightly yellowish pulp are formed. The shape varies from round to elongated pear-shaped. The thin rind results in a short storage period for the excavated stolons.

Inflorescences with a diameter of 6 cm, basket-like. The petals are deep yellow, elongated, ligulate. Pollinated crosswise by bees, wind. Sets seeds that look like a sunflower, smaller. 1 gram contains about 120 pieces.

Can be grown in one place for up to 10 years while maintaining good yields.

Reproduction

Reproduces:

• seeds;

• tubers.

The first method is more laborious, not always producing offspring that completely copy the parent. It is more often used by breeders to obtain new hybrids.

Summer residents prefer an easier option - tuberous. Here all the characteristics of the variety are preserved in full.

Several mother bushes are left in the spring. Plants are dug up in early spring. Large stolons are selected for planting. The rest of the crop is used as intended.

The initial material is purchased in nurseries or from familiar vegetable growers.

Varieties

Jerusalem artichoke varieties are divided into:

• silage (a lot of green mass, relatively small tubers);

• tuberous (less growth, larger tubers);

• universal (both indicators are at the same level).

The most widespread are the hybrids "Delight", "Tselinny", "Novost". The latest achievement of breeders is the Bashgau variety, bred by scientists from the Agrarian University of Bashkiria.

Growing

They dig up the platform on the bayonet of the shovel in the fall, filling it with humus, sand, and a glass of ash per 1 square meter. In early spring, immediately after the snow melts, rows are outlined every 50 cm, holes are dug 10 cm deep at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other.

The planting material is preliminarily treated from a watering can with microelements dissolved in water (manganese, copper, zinc, boron). This technique increases the yield, resistance to adverse external factors.

Lay out one tuber per hole. Fall asleep with loose, fertile soil. An effective method of landing in pre-cut ridges.

After 2 weeks, the first shoots appear. At a height of 15 cm, the plants are spud. Loosening the soil allows you to improve aeration, remove compaction, and increase yields.

A month later, a tablespoon of Kemir fertilizer is fed to a bucket of liquid. In dry periods, watered abundantly 2 times a month. While the plants are small, the weeds are periodically weeded. As culture grows, it drowns out its "competitors".

The highest yield of Jerusalem artichoke has the first 4 years. With the further use of the plantation without harvesting tubers, their size decreases over time.

Cleaning

The average output of finished products is tubers plus green mass of 30-40 kg per square meter.

The aboveground part is removed in the second half of summer, after flowering. Leaving stems 50-60cm high. To enable the tubers to ripen.

Stolons are dug up as needed on several dates, starting at the end of September. Part of the harvest is left until spring. The sub-winter storage option extends the time of consumption of fresh produce.

After harvesting, the tubers are transferred to plastic bags, removed to a cool place. Use 1-1.5 months. If desired, the stolons are preliminarily washed from the ground, dried a little.

For rural residents, topis flowers will expand the fodder base of animals. Provides vitamins in early spring. It will help to cope with serious ailments. It is worth trying to grow it on your site in order to make sure of the usefulness of this product from your own experience.