Jerusalem Artichokes - layering an alternative way to propagate?

Last year (October 2016) I cut the stems of my sunchoke patch at the end of our backyard. I dumped them on the ground so I could grind/chip them later for mulching.
When after I few weeks I finally had time for grinding, I noticed that 2 stems grew tiny new sunchoke tubers.

But before I could replant these tubers our two free range rabbits got hold of these stems ..... So I have to wait for next year.

Both jerusalem artichokes and particularly woodland sunflower do pretty well here and grow a fair amount of biomass. I'm thinking of growing more of them specifically to cut for mulch material. However when I came across this post I'm wondering whether I should think again! I don't necessarily want sunroots growing everywhere I put down mulch! Much of what I cut in the late part of the summer tends to not realise it is dead here - the cool and damp is enough to keep cut long grass growing and rerooting for example.
Has anyone found the same as the OP when they cut their sunroot top growth? This might be climate specific, so I may have to just try it somewhere 'safe' and see what happens.

If you monitor your sunchoke mulch regularly, any possible or spontaneous regrowth is easy to spot and to remove.

BTW nice to see somebody commenting Shows the strength of a forum format like permies.com. On Facebook or Reddit it is very difficult to search and react to older posts.

There is giant thread on sunchokes that mentions this possibility.
We could exploit this by knocking over over the stalks when they get about 6 feet tall, then burying them.
Or we could leave them upright and build a "potato tower" around them to hold the soil.
We might find that leaves, straw, hay, woodchips etc, work as mediums and make harvest easier.


Also mentioned in that thread is the propensity of most varieties to grow roots till they hit an obstacle, then set tubers.
I just planted some jchokes today, in inverted 5 gallon buckets.
I planted the tubers along the edges near the bottom, and filled them with compost.
Most guides suggest planting them shallower than this.
I'm hoping the buckets will make harvest bigger and easier to get to .

If I wanted to use the stalks without risk of propagation, i would leave them to dry off the ground and under clear plastic.

Adriaan van Roosmalen wrote:If you monitor your sunchoke mulch regularly, any possible or spontaneous regrowth is easy to spot and to remove.

Thanks so much for your response Adriaan. Hmm, I'm a bit of a 'chop and forget' sort of girl, so I think this is something I'm going to keep an eye on. I'll maybe do a small trial this year and see how much of a nuisance it is.

BTW nice to see somebody commenting Shows the strength of a forum format like permies.com. On Facebook or Reddit it is very difficult to search and react to older posts.

Indeed. I'm doing a bit of research on Jerualem artichoke threads for various reasons (not all connected with growing them), some of the older threads are great, and really 2017 was only a few years ago. If we forget our history we are bound to make the same mistakes, and learning from other peoples' mistakes is even better!

William Bronson wrote:There is giant thread on sunchokes that mentions this possibility.

I probably didn't read it that thoroughly and missed the information, or didn't realise the potential until I saw Adriaan's photos with those lovely little tubers just waiting to grow!
Earthing them up sounds like an interesting possibility - particularly for those limited on space rather than time. If you are planting them deeper than normal, I would  be worried that they would struggle to get to the surface. That probably depends on the size of the tuber, the growing conditions the variety and so many other things!

Also mentioned in that thread is the propensity of most varieties to grow roots till they hit an obstacle, then set tubers.

Again very interesting! I think most of the varieties available in the UK are ones selected to tuberise close to the stems so this is not normally noticeable here. I was surprised by some of the photos I've seen with long roots before the tuber and that explains it thank you!

Nancy,  Im not sure they wont run out of energy before they make it to the surface,but I haven't got the attention span to come back and add soil.
I will probably try this again later,
with leaves, but this set needed soil for the co-planted onions and raspberry cuttings.