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Composting sunchokes?

Asked October 10, 2020, 2:58 PM EDT

Hi, we have a small backyard composter and lots of sunchokes. Is it okay to compost the sunchoke leaves, stems, and flower heads and then use the compost on our vegetable garden? I know the tubers reproduce like crazy so I wasn't planning to compost those. I've heard that the plant is allelopathic and maybe that is a reason not to compost it?

Thanks!

Kent County Michigan

2 Responses

Thanks for the question. The allelopathic effects of this plant are said to be primarily in the stems and leaves. This is probably not a good plant to use in the compost. Check out the following abstract:

I hope this helps,

Wow, thanks! What a spot-on answer.