RobertLechner · CC BY-SA 3.0
Chinese artichoke
Plant·Stachys affinis
Full sun
Sun
Medium
Water
Well-drained soil
Drainage
Zones 5–10
Hardiness
Chinese artichoke (Stachys affinis) is a plant. It grows best in full sun and has moderate water needs.
Through the year
DormantLeafing outFloweringFruiting
Works well with
from wiki dataNo companions recorded.
WHAT IT NEEDS
Wants full sun
Needs moderate water
Needs well-drained soil
Prefers soil pH 6–6.5
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Prefers loam, sandy loam soil
Tolerates some soil compaction
Draws up potassium from deep in the soil
Adds a moderate amount of organic matter to the soil
WHAT IT GIVES
Gives mulch biomass (edible tubers and foliage)
Provides potassium
HOW IT GROWS
SIZE & SPACING
Herbaceous
Height30–60 cm
Spacing30 cm (min 20 cm)
Root depthShallow
Width30–45 cm
Width figures are rough estimates, the most variable measurement in our data.
AI estimate · accuracy improves as growers contribute corrections.
HOW TO PROPAGATE
Propagate by seed, tuber division
Difficulty
Establishes in about 1 yr
Self-seeds readily on its own
Where this comes from
Parsed11 Sept 2026
ConfidenceNot recorded
Photograph RobertLechner · CC BY-SA 3.0