Jerusalem artichoke - cultivation, features of earthen pear

Plant a useful and unpretentious Jerusalem artichoke on the dacha, cultivation of this "tuberous" relative of sunflower does not take much time and helps to get a delicious supplement to the daily diet. The ground pear in terms of nutritional value is not inferior to the potato, but it has excellent therapeutic and dietary properties.

What does Jerusalem artichoke look like?

The Brazilian Indians of the Tupinamoas tribe were the first to introduce this food culture to Europeans. The colonists quickly realized the value of the find and contributed to the spread of the earth pear around the world. The Jerusalem artichoke plant is suitable for growing on fodder, the tuber can be eaten. With the spread of potatoes, its popularity has greatly decreased, but due to high frost resistance the earth pear grows freely on all continents in the wild.

There are red, yellow, white and even purple root-crops of Jerusalem artichoke, similar in shape to ginger rootlets. Raw taste they represent something intermediate between turnips, asparagus, artichoke or cabbage cob, suitable for making a number of delicious dishes. The above-ground part of the plant is similar to the stem of a sunflower, with which it is closely related. The stems are covered with short villi, the height is reached when growing 3 m, orange blossoms form on the top.

The universal culture is Jerusalem artichoke, the cultivation of green mass provides silage, haylage, mixed fodder. From the tubers make a salad, cooked and stewed dishes, canned food. Roots are adored by rabbits, pigs, sheep and cows, they raise the milk well and increase their living weight. The use of Jerusalem artichoke reduces the risk of heart attack, salt deposits, anemia, and lowers acidity. The fruit of the plant is strongly recommended as a useful supplement in diabetes.

Jerusalem artichoke - species

Distinguish species of plant forage, forming a large green mass, but small roots of Jerusalem artichoke, and varieties of food use with increased yield of tubers. There are early and late plants, some species ripen not earlier than November and are not suitable for a cold climate. At the moment, more than three hundred hybrids and cultivars of this culture are grown. The original decorative varieties, which have received little distribution in our region, are brought out.

The best varieties of Jerusalem artichoke for growing:

  1. Leningrad - late sort, but white elongated tubers can fully ripen in the North-West of Russia, well suited for winter storage.
  2. Omsk white - a medium-ripened variety, the stems grow over 2 m, the root vegetables are spherical in weight up to 50-55 g.
  3. Skorospelka - forms white rounded tubers of good taste, ripening of the crop early, differs in growing frost resistance.
  4. Vulgothsky - root crops of the plant are yellow, long, yields - over 100c / ha. This variety of Jerusalem artichoke can be grown in the North-West and North of Russia.
  5. Interest - the variety will appeal to fans who plant the plant in hot climates. The stems of Jerusalem artichoke are powerful, erect, yields with a late ripening period.
  6. Sunny - late maturity, tubers grow to 60g, bushes are powerful. Excellent varietal Jerusalem artichoke, growing on products is possible in most regions.
  7. Pasko - late-ripening, bushes high, forms during cultivation roots of round form of white color up to 80 g.
  8. The find is late, yielding, suitable for southern regions.
  9. News VIR - yield of earthen pears to 35t / ha, Jerusalem artichoke can be grown mechanically.
  10. Volzhsky 2 - forms fruits pear-shaped, white with purple spots, resistant to heat, yield up to 200t / ha.

How to plant Jerusalem artichoke?

Jerusalem artichoke is grown as an annual or as a multi-year monoculture in a specially designated area. On farms choose the first option, but for the cottage any methods are possible depending on the goal that the vegetable grower set for themselves. Optimal choice of soil for earthen pear with pH 6.0-7.7, this plant grows well on light loam. Planting Jerusalem artichoke is desirable on sun beds or in a light shadow. You can grow perennials on the perimeter of the dacha, and take a place along the fence for him.

Planting tuba Jerusalem artichoke

In deciding how to plant Jerusalem artichoke, the correct choice and treatment of tubers plays an important role. Take the average in size with chicken egg roots and pickled in a solution of manganese dark red. In addition, it is possible to process tubers in the Zircon stimulator, increasing germination and accelerating the growth of shoots. In the rows they are laid out in 30 cm, grown with the distance between the rows - up to 80 cm, depending on the variety. The depth of planting an earthen pear is 12-15 cm. If the Jerusalem artichoke is dried before planting, it is moistened by soaking it in water.

Jerusalem artichoke - planting seeds

Seed multiplication of this culture by amateurs is rarely used in cultivation, it is suitable for breeding new varieties when buying material by mail. It is necessary to wait a couple of years to get a full yield of an earthen pear in this way. Jerusalem artichoke when planting and nursing seeds in the first year is better to grow in containers, for the summer you will get weak sprouts or bushes. In the spring we dig out young small roots and transplant them into the soil.

Jerusalem artichoke - planting time

During autumn planting, the work is done a couple of weeks before the arrival of stable frosts. After laying the tubers in a trench, the ground is leveled with rakes. Planting Jerusalem artichoke in spring in time coincides with the planting of potatoes, in most regions it begins to be produced from the end of April after heating the soil, being guided by weather conditions.

Jerusalem artichoke - care and cultivation

We are dealing with an extremely hardy crop that grows in many regions even in the form of weeds, but left without care the plants form small root crops that do not have commodity value. In the question of how to grow Jerusalem artichoke in the open ground, it is necessary to fulfill a number of basic conditions that help to obtain permanent high yields of delicious earth pears.

How to grow Jerusalem artichoke:

  1. After planting we make loosening of the soil, we remove weedy grasses on the bed.
  2. Seedlings appear after 2-3 weeks.
  3. The first hilling of the bushes is made by the time the shoots reach a height of 0.4-0.5 m.
  4. Adult shrubs with stems of 1 m and above it is desirable to tie to a wire or wooden supports.
  5. We grow bushes as they grow.
  6. Cutting flowers helps in growing to get better yields of earthen pears.
  7. We fertilize Jerusalem artichokes with mineral or organic preparations.
  8. We harvest fruits in the autumn until frost or spring.
  9. It is possible to single out a part of the bed for spring harvesting, and to dig the main crop with the arrival of heat, in the soil, the roots are wintered better. In this case, you can not miss the terms of work, otherwise the tubers will shoot and will lose nutritional value.

Earth pear Jerusalem artichoke - watering

In the rainy season Jerusalem artichoke is unpretentious and does not require watering. In a drought, when a stable heat is established for several weeks, it is possible to help plants, pouring up to 15 liters of water under each bush. Applied in the cultivation of sprinkling or a method of drip irrigation. We use water with a temperature of 15 ° C to 18 ° C, while growing Jerusalem artichoke watering in the morning or in the evening with an interval of two weeks.

The Jerusalem artichoke plant - top dressing

Shoots of earthen pears can be fed with wood ash with the calculation up to 300 g of substance per 1 m 2 of soil, as an alternative, a mineral potassium fertilizer is suitable. In solving the problem, how to grow Jerusalem artichoke in the country, you can not do without nitrogen and microfertilizers. These substances in the form of an aqueous solution are added at the second fertilizing during the budding period. After autumn harvesting, the soil is fertilized with nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium compounds (10 g / m 2 ), it is possible to apply well-repaired manure on the beds.

How to propagate artichoke?

Buying a tuber of a new variety, we rarely have a suitable amount of planting material, so the Jerusalem artichoke is grown by dividing the root crops into parts. Cultivating pieces of earthen pears with healthy eyes, you can get a full seedlings. It is necessary to leave at least two growth points in the sections of the Jerusalem artichoke. This method is suitable for spring planting, in autumn it is not recommended to divide the tubers.

Earth pear tree artichoke - diseases and pests

Occasionally there are outbreaks of diseases at Jerusalem artichoke, how to grow the plant in unfavorable years?

  1. Sclerotiniosis infects stems, causing the appearance of white plaque. Painful bushes are recommended to burn, and plantings to process "Immunocytophyte".
  2. Drying of leaves and the appearance of dark brown spots causes alternaria, the treatment of beds with fungicides helps to prevent the disease - Topaz, Bayleton, Skor, Topsin.
  3. Medvedku , scoop , May beetle, other insects during cultivation are destroyed with granulated preparations - Boverin, Anti-Medvedka, RembeK.