Jerusalem Artichokes

01 About

An easy, hardy perennial that needs very little looking after. Each plant gives ten or more sweet, nutty tubers, ready to dig through the winter when little else is cropping. The plants can reach 3 metres, so a few rows planted together will shelter the rest of the plot from wind.

02 What to Grow

Only a handful of named kinds are on sale in the UK. Fuseau's big, smooth tubers peel easily, and Dwarf Sunray stops at about 1.2–1.5m, with pale, long and smooth tubers, so it suits windy or smaller plots. Gerard is a French kind with red skin and rounder tubers, Sakhalinski Rouge has large, club-shaped tubers of a pale lilac colour, and Bianca gives small tubers with a sweet, nutty taste.

03 Varieties

The number of varieties shown for each crop is based on UK consumption data (2025/26) — the more popular the crop, the more variety choices we include.

🍴 Smooth & Kitchen-Friendly

Smooth-skinned kinds, far easier to prepare than the old knobbly types.

Fuseau

Smooth · Tubers

Big, smooth, thin-skinned tubers that peel easily — a good kind for the kitchen.

• ⭐ Flavour
• Beginners

Dwarf Sunray

Compact · Tubers

A short kind, growing to about 1.2–1.5m, so a good pick for windy sites and smaller gardens. Its tubers are long, smooth and pale.

• Beginners

🔴 Coloured & Specialist

Less common kinds from specialist UK suppliers — red or lilac skins, or small, sweet tubers.

Gerard

Red-skinned · Tubers

A French variety with red skin and rounder tubers than most. Sold in the UK by organic tuber suppliers.

• Heritage

Sakhalinski Rouge

Lilac · Tubers

A specialist kind with large, club-shaped tubers of a pale lilac colour. Sold in the UK by a specialist nursery.

• Heritage

Bianca

Small · Tubers

Grown for its small tubers, which have a sweet, nutty taste. Good roasted or in soup.

• ⭐ Flavour

04 Where to Source

Jerusalem artichokes start from tubers, which garden centres and online shops sell from late winter until mid-spring. Once you have a crop, keep some of your own tubers to replant — they multiply freely.

📬 Seeds by Post

Online suppliers sell named tubers between late winter and mid-spring and offer the widest choice, from smooth Fuseau and the shorter Dwarf Sunray to red-skinned Gerard. Order early, as stock often sells out. Once your plants are growing, keep some tubers each year to replant and you need not buy again.

🏪 Garden Centres

Many garden centres sell Jerusalem artichoke tubers in late winter and spring, often near the seed potatoes. The choice is usually one or two kinds, but the tubers are ready to plant straight away.

05 Planting Options

🌿 Open Ground

Open ground is the usual way to grow Jerusalem artichokes. Plant tubers 10–15cm deep and 30cm apart in a sunny, permanent spot, with rows 1m apart if you need to walk between them, or 30cm apart for a block. Choose the place with care: plants can reach 3m and may shade other crops, though a few rows make a good windbreak. They spread by underground tubers, so treat the area as theirs for good and lift every tuber you do not want, as even a small piece will grow again. Avoid ground that gets waterlogged — the tubers can rot.

Suitable varieties: All varieties. A large pot works too — at least 45cm wide and deep, holding one or two tubers; short kinds such as Dwarf Sunray suit pots best, though the crop is smaller and needs regular watering.

06 Companion Planting

✅ Grow nearby

• 

  🌽 Sweetcorn

  Both are tall, vigorous crops that can be planted together as a windbreak or screen. Jerusalem artichokes are sometimes used as a living windbreak to shelter more tender crops.

• 

  🫘 Beans

  Beans fix nitrogen that benefits the nutrient-hungry Jerusalem artichoke plants. The two crops can be grown in adjacent rows without significant competition.

• 

  🌸 Nasturtiums

  Nasturtiums are a cheerful, easy edging for the bed, grown here for colour — do not count on them to keep aphids away.

❌ Keep apart

• 🥦 Most Vegetables — Jerusalem artichokes can grow 3m tall and spread by underground tubers. Plant them at the edge of the plot, where they will not shade, crowd or take over the main beds.

07 Sowing — How To

Jerusalem artichokes start from tubers rather than seed, planted between February and May. They are among the easiest crops in the kitchen garden. A sunny spot in moist, moderately fertile soil gives the biggest harvest; poor soil and part shade are tolerated, but the crop will be smaller. Once planted they come back year after year from any tubers that stay in the soil, so the main job is keeping them in their place.

1. 

   Planting tubers

   Fork a bucketful of garden compost into each square metre, then plant firm tubers, each a bit smaller than an egg, 10–15cm deep and 30cm apart, any time from February to May. Leave 1m between rows if you need to walk between them, or set the rows just 30cm apart to make a block. A big tuber can be cut in two, as long as each half has a bud. Water them in.

2. 

   Emerging shoots

   Shoots come up in spring and nothing needs thinning. Cover the surface with a layer of compost to keep the soil damp and smother weeds, and water if the weather turns dry.

3. 

   Full height

   The plants can reach 3m by late summer. When the stems reach roughly 30cm, pull soil up round their base into a mound about 15cm high to steady them. On windy sites, push tall canes or hazel poles in round the outside of the planting and run string between them to hold the stems in.

4. 

   Flowers

   Yellow, sunflower-like flowers open in late summer and autumn and are good for bees and other pollinators. You can leave them, or cut them off — this may send a little more energy into the tubers, but the gain is small.

5. 

   Cutting back

   Once the foliage yellows in autumn, cut each stem back to a stump about 8cm tall. The stumps show you where to dig, and laying the cut stems on top keeps the soil warmer and easier to fork over in frost.

6. 

   Harvest

   Dig the tubers with a garden fork from November, as you need them, right through the winter. Each plant usually gives ten or more, and they can spread wide and, in light soil, go quite deep. Any piece left in the ground will grow again next year — leave a few on purpose if you want another crop in the same spot.

Regional sowing timing

Region	Sow / plant	Harvest	Notes
Scotland & Far North	Feb–May	Nov–Feb	Plant from February to May, once the ground can be worked; if it is frozen or sodden, start the tubers in pots outdoors and plant them out later in spring. Dig from November through the winter; cover the bed with the cut stems or a thick mulch so it can still be dug in hard frost. · Feb–May (tuber planting)
Northern England	Feb–May	Nov–Feb	Plant from February to May. Dig from November through the winter. A reliable winter crop for northern plots — cover the bed in hard frosts so you can still dig. · Feb–May (tuber planting)
Midlands & Wales	Feb–May	Nov–Feb	Plant from February to May. Dig as needed from November through the winter. · Feb–May (tuber planting)
Ireland & Isle of Man	Feb–May	Nov–Feb	Plant from February to May. Dig as needed from November through the winter. Avoid ground that stays waterlogged, where the tubers can rot. · Feb–May (tuber planting)
South & SE England	Feb–May	Nov–Feb	Plant from February to May. Water in dry summer spells so the tubers swell. Dig from November through the winter, and lift every tuber you do not want back. · Feb–May (tuber planting)
South Coast & SW	Feb–May	Nov–Feb	Plant from February to May. Dig as needed from November; in mild winters the bed rarely freezes, so digging is easy right through to February. · Feb–May (tuber planting)

08 Using a Propagator

Jerusalem artichokes start from tubers rather than seed, so no propagator is needed. Most are planted straight into the ground from February to May.

Heated propagator

Not applicable. Jerusalem artichokes are planted as tubers directly into open ground. There is no seed germination stage requiring heat.

Standard unheated propagator — A lidded seed tray traps warmth and humidity around germinating seeds without electricity. Performance depends entirely on room temperature — best placed on a warm windowsill and used from March onwards. Replace the lid promptly after watering. Remove it completely the moment seedlings emerge to prevent damping off.

09 Soil Requirements

pH

5.5–7.5

Best

Loam, Sandy loam, Clay loam

Tolerates

Clay, Sandy, Poor soil

Avoid

Waterlogged

10 Ongoing Care

💧 Watering

Water regularly in dry summer spells so the tubers swell — plants that go short tend to give tubers that are smaller, knobblier and awkward to peel. Water new plantings in well, and keep plants in pots watered all season. A compost mulch spread as winter ends keeps the ground from drying out.

🎋 Supporting

Plants can reach 3m, and strong wind can snap or flatten them, or rock the stems so the tubers loosen and grow less. Once the stems reach roughly 30cm, draw soil up round the base into a mound about 15cm high. On windy sites, set tall canes or hazel poles round the outside of the planting and tie string between them. If you cannot stake, cut the stems back to about 1.5m during late July or in August — but no lower, or the crop will suffer.

🫚 Harvesting

Dig tubers from November, once the foliage has died down, and keep lifting as needed through the winter — they keep best in the ground and do not turn woody. Use a garden fork and dig with care, as the tubers can spread wide and, in light soil, deep. Lift every last piece from any ground you want back, as anything left will regrow.

⚠️ Controlling Spread

Jerusalem artichokes spread aggressively — any tuber left in the ground will produce a new plant. To control spread, harvest every tuber thoroughly each autumn. Consider growing in a sunken container or raised bed with solid sides to prevent underground spread into other beds.

11 Watch Out For

🐛 Insects & pests

• 🐌 Slugs & Snails — Silver slime trails on leaves, soil, and pots — often the first sign before damage is found
• 🐜 Aphids (Blackfly & Greenfly) — Curled, distorted, or stunted growing tips — aphids inject saliva that causes leaf curl to protect them

🍄 Diseases to watch

• ⬜ Sclerotinia (White Mould) — Sclerotinia sclerotiorum causes a sudden, dramatic collapse of apparently healthy plants. It produces dense white cotton-wool-like mycelium and large black resting bodies (sclerotia) that persist in soil for up to 10 years. A single severely affected bed can remain a reservoir for re-infection for a decade.
• ⬜ Powdery Mildew — Powdery mildew is caused by a range of related fungi, each specific to its host plant — courgette mildew cannot infect peas, and vice versa. The characteristic white powdery coating on leaf surfaces appears in warm, dry conditions (unlike downy mildew which prefers cool and wet). Rarely kills plants but severely reduces yield and plant vigour.
• 🩶 Botrytis (Grey Mould) — Botrytis cinerea (grey mould) is the most ubiquitous fungal pathogen in temperate gardens — present in virtually every garden soil and on plant debris. It becomes a disease only when conditions favour it: cool, humid, poorly ventilated environments with damaged or senescent plant tissue. In a greenhouse in autumn it can destroy an entire tomato or grape crop.

Full identification and treatment advice is in the Pests and Diseases sections.

12 Storage & Preserving

🌱 Leave in Ground

Jerusalem artichokes keep best in the ground and do not store well once lifted. Dig them as needed from November through the winter. In cold areas, lay the cut stems, a deep mulch or sheets of cardboard over the bed so the ground stays diggable in a hard frost. Frost is often said to sweeten the flavour.

🥣 Soup

Jerusalem artichoke soup is one of the great winter soups. Cook with onion and stock and blend until silky. Cool it quickly, then keep it covered in the fridge and eat within 2 days, or freeze in portions and use within 3 months.

13 Expert Tips

14 Common Mistakes

15 See Also

• 🌼 Companion Planting
• 🔄 Crop Rotation