Jerusalem artichokes x5 Tubers for Growing/Eating

Jerusalem Artichokes – Helianthus tuberosus are one of the easiest and most rewarding crops you can grow, and this pack of three healthy tubers gets you started. Despite the name, they’re not related to globe artichokes at all. They’re actually a close cousin of the sunflower, and they produce knobbly, pale-skinned tubers with a sweet, nutty flavour that’s somewhere between a potato and a water chestnut.

Plant them in spring and by late summer you’ll have tall, leafy stems reaching well over head height, topped with cheerful golden-yellow daisy-like flowers around 5 to 10cm across. Come autumn, each tuber you planted can reward you with a generous cluster of new ones, often 1 to 2kg per plant. They’re fantastic roasted, mashed, made into a silky soup or sliced thinly and eaten raw in salads. They’re also naturally rich in inulin, a prebiotic fibre that’s good for gut health.

Because they grow so tall and dense, Jerusalem artichokes also make a handy summer windbreak or screen on the allotment, around a compost area or at the back of the veg patch. Bees and hoverflies enjoy the late flowers too, so they add a bit of wildlife value to the kitchen garden.

Care Guide

Planting: Plant tubers from February to April, about 10 to 15cm deep and 30 to 45cm apart, in rows roughly 90cm apart. They’ll grow in almost any soil, even heavy clay or poorer ground, but you’ll get the biggest crops in well-drained, reasonably fertile soil.

Position: Full sun or light shade is ideal. Bear in mind how tall they’ll grow and avoid spots where they’ll cast shade over sun-loving crops.

Watering: Water during dry spells in summer, especially while plants are establishing. Once settled they’re pretty drought tolerant, though a good soak in hot weather helps tubers swell.

Feeding: No heavy fertilising needed. A spadeful of well-rotted manure or compost dug in before planting is plenty.

Support: In exposed gardens, earth up the base of stems when they reach around 30cm and consider staking or running a string line along rows to stop autumn winds knocking them over.

Pruning: In late summer you can cut stems back to around 1.5m to reduce wind rock. Once foliage turns brown in autumn, cut stems down to about 15cm above ground.

Harvesting: Dig tubers from October through to March as needed. They’re fully hardy and store best left in the ground, as they lose moisture quickly once lifted. Do try to dig up every piece, as even small fragments will regrow, so they’re best given a dedicated bed.

Saving tubers: Keep a few healthy tubers back to replant in spring and you’ll never need to buy them again.

Ultimate height
1.5 to 2.5 metres

Time to ultimate height
1 year

Ultimate spread
0.5 to 1 metre