How to grow Jerusalem artichoke at home: care rules and time of planting

Jerusalem artichoke is also known as earth apple, sunroot, or topinambur. This is not a very popular crop in our latitudes, but it is quite easy to grow in the garden.

Jerusalem artichoke loves bright sunlight and grows well in neutral or slightly alkaline (6.0-7.5 pH) soil, except for salt marshes. Read how to grow Jerusalem artichoke at home in the OBOZ.UA article.

How and when to plant

Jerusalem artichoke has a powerful and strong root system that produces edible tubers that look like ginger and taste like cabbage or turnips.

Planting the earth apple in the open ground begins 2-3 weeks before the onset of steady cold weather or in the spring when the ground has already warmed up enough. In the fall, it is better to plant whole tubers, and in the spring, they are usually divided into several parts.

Choose a well-lit area. Note that the stems can reach a height of 3 m, so the best place for planting is along the perimeter of the garden or along the fence.

Jerusalem artichoke is planted at a distance of 40 cm from each other in a 12-15 cm deep trench. The width is 60-70 cm.

How to care

Jerusalem artichoke is an unpretentious crop. You just need to loosen the soil and weed the area around it. When the shoots sprout up to 30 cm, they can be covered with garden compost.

When the stems are up to 1 m long, you should install poles at both ends of the row and stretch a plastic-wrapped wire horizontally between them. This way, the plants will not break from the wind. At the end of the growing season, you can even shorten the stems to 1.5-2 m.

Watering and fertilizing

Watering is needed only during a period of prolonged drought. If the summer is rainy, natural rainfall will be enough for the crop.

In the spring, you can apply fertilizers containing nitrogen and potassium, and in the summer, you should water the bed with green manure infusion.

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