[FRIAM] Sunchoke rhizomes

[Steve Smith]

On 8/5/20 8:37 PM, jon zingale wrote:
> Sunchokes are very tasty. Do they grow easily out where you are?

yes, they do particularly like water, but can suffer without too much...
my best bed is near my (leaky) water faucet.   The other bed I have
going got (mostly) grazed out by my chickens who don't go after them
harshly but have ultimately stopped them all excepting one which is
about 7' tall with no leaves below about 3 feet... I caught one jumping
up and grabbing a bite out of a lower leaf yesterday.

I've a friend who grows them commercially who got started by simply
going to Sprouts and buying up the tiniest nodules from their organic
bin to plant... he says "much cheaper than seed stock, and just as
viable/clean".    I can't even remember where I got my first starts,
they are very self-perpetuating...  even if/when I dig them wihtout
intentional re-seeding(rhizoming), they do come back from the (tiny?)
fragments I apparently miss/leave.   Not as dense as if I deliberately
leave/break-off the smallest nodules to leave behind.

They don't start in a new bed as easily as an old one, so I'm guessing
there is some mycorhizomial thing going on that takes a season to
re-establish.

- Steve