Jerusalem Artichokes?

Hey everyone,

We thought these were Jerusalem Artichokes - and perhaps they are. I expected to find tubers within a foot of the plant. Now others are suggesting to go up to 3 feet round the plant. It seems excessive, but perhaps it is necessary. I really just do not know.

What do you think?

Here is my blog about it: http://www.jandjacres.net/2013/12/15/jerusalem-artichokes/

Here is the video:

I'm no expert, but it looks like a dead sunflower plant.

Jerusalem Artichoke is in the same genus.
The flowers looks different from your video than on wiki.

I can't tell if it is a jchoke or not from the pics, but even if it is, that is no guarantee of tubers. Sometimes plants from seed produce very little in the way of tuberous roots - particularly if they grow in shade.

Bill Dubiya wrote:I can't tell if it is a jchoke or not from the pics, but even if it is, that is no guarantee of tubers. Sometimes plants from seed produce very little in the way of tuberous roots - particularly if they grow in shade.

That is good to know, however, these grew here on their own naturally. If they were seeded it was by nature, not me. Not sure if that matters at all, but since you brought it up I wanted to clarify.

My bet at a guess is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helianthus_maximiliani "Maxamillion Sunflower"

I've seen and dug a fair amount of them. The top looks pretty similar; however, the root system doesn't really resemble JA. Tubers are pretty close to plant. I also don't remember the roots being so many and so stringy.

Steven

My experience with Jerusalem Artichokes is that there are tubers galore.
I don't know what you have there.

Hi, from what I can tell this does not look like J. artichokes. As others have said , the flowers and roots look different, and different from the ones I grow. No problem though, I bought some tubers from Johnny's selected seeds, called "stampede", are VERY productive, and once you plant your first tubers, you will have a constant supply forever. This variety does not reseed, so it won't take over your garden, and you can easily get from 1-2 lbs. per sq. ft. Or if you can find someone who grows them, I'm sure they will be happy to share, since they are so prolific. I love the taste of them, both raw and cooked, but I haven't found a way to prepare them, so that they don't produce lots of gas(thus the nickname- fartichokes). Has anyone found a solution to this problem? They are so productive that people have made ethanol from them-in David Blumes book, Alcohol can be a gas, agreat read by the way if you want to learn about ethanol production, and its use as a fuel- but anyway in that book they have an ethanol yield for jchokes of 550-750 gallons per acre, one of the highest plant yields of ethanol. I'm told they make good animal feed, and the birds and the bees seem to love the late-season flowers. I still wish I could find a way to eat them though, because it would be such a great food crop, and so easy to grow. Hope this is helpful.

Well i can't answer "how to stop the gas" but i can answer "how to reduce the gas" i make a white sauce usingthing them , or puree them in mashed potato , you still get that wonderfull flavour but not "as mush" gas production , amd sure others may be able to point you in the right direction tho
Peace and Love Dave OXOXOXO

I would agree with David's response that it is Maximillian Sunflower... I grow both jchokes and maximillian sunflower, and yes, pretty easy to see them as the same from a distance or until you know them better... One way for more or less surefire validation that it's Maximillian is to look at the base of the plant where it meets the soil, there should be purplish buds there, swollen and ready for next years growth, and the base of the stem should connect firmly with the root crown and start of the root system... It's a nice plant to have, bees enjoy it, I've heard it could be edible in the roots as well, and hardy perennial. But not jchokes! If you get a positive ID on them being miximillian maybe you can move them to create a border or hedgerow use for them, windbreak or whatever, and pop in some nice cultivar jchokes around where you want them...

there are so many varieties in the sunflower family it could be one of another variety..however..if it is a jerusalem artichoke it will come back in the same place next year..stronger..and when you pull it up you should find at least some tiny little tubers attached to the root one would think..I'd wait another year