cup plant
Other Common Names Include:
Carpenter’s weed, cup rosinweed, compass plant, pilot weed, squareweed, Indian cup
Latin Name: Silphium perfoliatum
Plant Family: Asteraceae
Close Relatives: Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Uses and Markets: Cup plant is a native perennial to Ontario. It has been studied as a forage crop and compares well with corn silage. It is a tremendous pollinator crop, flowering from July to September. More recent research has looked at its usefulness as a feedstock for biomethane production via anaerobic digestion.
Production Life Cycle in Ontario
Perennial
Hardiness Zone
4b
Special Notes
Cup plant can survive flooding for 10-15 days.
Propagation method
Seed at 10-40 kg/ha. Germination can be low and seed collected in fall must be stratified for 12 weeks.
Greenhouse Seeding/Propagation Dates
Transplants can be started in March and planted to the field in late May.
Field Seeding Date:
Early May.
Field Transplanting Dates
Late May.
In-Row Spacing
10-25 cm
Between row spacing
40-70 cm
Optimal Soil temperature at planting
>10°C
Fertility
No current Ontario fertility recommendations exist. Research and recommendations from outside Ontario do not necessarily apply to Ontario growing conditions. Research from other jurisdictions shows cup plant yields increase with increasing nitrogen availability, but the rate increase begins to decline at rates above 100 kg N ha-1. Click here for phosphorus and potassium application guidelines and for more information on specialty crop fertility.
Soil type
Well-drained, sandy soils.
Soil pH
Neutral soils.
Special requirements for growth habit
A packer should be used to ensure good seed to soil contact. Weed control during the first year is critical to ensure good crop establishment.
Optimal Temperature Range
Temperate climate.
Temperature sensitivity
Freeze tolerant.
Irrigation requirements
Irrigation usually not required.
Days to harvest
Typically harvested in September.
Specialized equipment
Forage harvester.
Harvest
Harvest Scheduling
Typically 1 fall harvest but double cropping is possible with first harvest in June during initial budding stage.
Hand harvest or machine harvest
Machine harvest.
Quality parameters/grades:
No established grades.
Additional Harvest Notes
Flowers and leaves provide food and shelter to animals and insects (especially bees), and so harvesting after flowering is ecologically beneficial.
Post harvest
Special handling/curing
Crop is ensiled when used as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion. Storage losses can be reduced by wilting the crop prior to ensiling or by adding silage additives (e.g. formic acid, wheat, oats or maize).
Storage Conditions
Relative humidity (RH): N/A
Temperature: N/A
Air Exchange: N/A
Duration: Indefinitely
Specific pests observed on this crop in Ontario (observations based on limited experience with this crop)
Unknown – limited to no production of this crop in Ontario to date
Other Potential Pests: The following pests have not been observed on this crop in Ontario. However, they are either significant concerns for closely related plants in Ontario, or are reported on this crop in other production areas. This is not a comprehensive list of all potential pests. Not all of these pests will necessarily survive Ontario’s climate, but could potentially survive in a protected environment (e.g. greenhouse, storage facility).
Insects and Invertebrates: In other regions, the larvae of various moths have been found on the leaves and stem (silver Y, Autographa gamma; mouse moth, Amphipyra tragopogonis; broad-barred white moth, Hecatera bicolorata and giant eucosma moth (Eucosma giganteana) as well as the larva of the tumbling flower beetle (Mordellistena cf. aethiops Smith – Coleoptera: Mordellidae), and the aphid, Uroleucon cf. ambrosiae). The giant eucosma moth has been the most significant pest, attacking apical tissue, flower buds and the rhizome.
Diseases: A number of fungal diseases, including Sclerotinia spp. (stems), Fusarium spp. (seeds), Alternaria spp. (seeds and biomass) and Botrytis spp. (seeds, flower buds). Other potentially pathogenic species diagnosed from cup plant include the fungi Uromyces silphii, Uromyces junci, Septoria silphii, Puccinia silphii, Puccinia obtecta, Puccinia albiperidia, Ascochytasilphii sp. and the disease Pseudomonas syringae.
Other:
*Indicates pests commonly mentioned as causing significant damage or economic loss to this crop in other regions.
Comments
Crops grown for biomass can tolerate higher levels of insect and disease damage than those grown for food or ornamental use. There is some concern that biomass crops can serve as a refuge for pests of neighbouring crops. Weed control will likely be necessary during the first one to two years as weeds will compete with establishing plants. To date the following pests have been the most significant in Ontario: none. This crop is not in a crop group. For more information on Crop Groups, refer to the Pest section. There are few to no pest control products registered on this crop. Always refer to product labels, and follow all directions specified on the label, before applying any pest control product. For more information, consult an OMAFRA specialist.
None
- Todd, J., Thimmanagari, M., Gilroyed, B. and DeBruyn, J. Cup Plant for Biogas Production. OMAFRA’s Environmental Management Branch’s Kickstart funding program. 2015/2016
- Gansberger, M., Montgomery, L. and Liebhard, P. (2015). Botanical characteristics, crop management and potential of Silphium perfoliatum L. as a renewable resource for biogas production: A review. Ind. Crops Prod. 63:362-372
- Stanford, G. (1990). Silphium perfoliatum (Cup Plant) as a new forage. Proceedings of the 12th North American Prairie Conference. P33-38
- USDA NRCS. 2003. Cup Plant Silphium perfoliatum L. var. connatum (L.) Cronq. Plant Fact Sheet. https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_sipec2.pdf
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