When I transplanted this two year old ,I put it in my four foot walkway between my raised bed and fence. OY VEY, It is hard to tell in this pic,but I already have to step over it and hug my raised bed as I walk by.... It has not even begun to get its harvest leaves yet... I can see I am going to have to go all the way around just to get by it in another month or so.... Needless to say,It is going to have to move after this years harvest.... ;-(

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jonhughes -

Do you have to move your plant because it's over grown your walk way or do you have to move it because it's not enough room for the plant? I take that it's not enough room for the plant.

I won't have this problem with my garden boxes because they do not over lap a walk way. But are my garden boxes large enough for the roots of the plant?

Also do these Artichokes require full sun or will afternoon sun be enough?

Since the diameter of the root system on most all plants pretty much copies the diameter of its top growth - its drip edge - the root ball on Jon's artichoke is just about the same diameter as the plant in the picture. 2' wide by 1' high isn't a very big container. You'd need one HUGE container. ;)

Dave

The area that grows the most commercial artichokes in the USA is near the town of Half Moon Bay (coastal California). It is always overcast and cool there. Knowing this, I planted my first artichokes on the shadiest spot in my yard. I later planted some more in a partly shaded area that gets better drainage and a little more sun. The ones that are getting a bit more sun are doing better now, who knows what they will do in the summer. Austin gets pretty hot, so I would suggest partial sun, with the option of shading in the summer. I interplant for shading. I have grown sunflowers near artichokes, I have an area where I planted tomatoes next to them (pretty sure the tomatoes will provide some shade). I plan on growing okra on another artichoke bed, but I expect less shading from okra.

Clay soil is fine, they like clay. However, I would say your containers will be too small if you get a full grown healthy productive artichoke. My best looking one is 4 feet tall and takes up an area of about 5 feet in diameter. It is just starting to bud now, I will try to post pictures this weekend. They are beautiful and delicious, but they do take some space.

If you have space all around them, for them growing and for you walking,they will do fine,Dave is right though they do have GIANT root systems,but if not permitted to "go out" they will go down.... so ...since you have no bottom on your beds you will do great...also,JMHO .. can you take the bottom off those 18" pots and recess them into the ground a few inches,just like your other containers,they will do best with the most amount of root room and the natural earth wicking effect... When I transplanted these last year after harvest,the roots were at least a foot and a half long and 18" wide on their first year ! !

The pics you are about to see are 1 year old plants(last year) the same ones as my first pic you saw... before I moved them down to the ground (to where I thought would be enough room ;-(

These were in a two foot wide x two foot tall raised bed, and if not for the fact that I had zero room to walk around them,I could have left them there...Awesome producers ...out of four plants we got more than we could possibly eat and gave a lot to friends...

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When do you actually start to see the blooms? I have two that I bought in gallon containers last fall and planted them, they made it over the winter fine and are about 2.5 to 3ft tall and have lots of leaves but no blooms or chokes. When should I start seeing the blooms? I also planted two rows of seeds, globe and imperial and they have done great. I germinated about 1 every 5th seed so I have quite a few smaller plants that I am sure won't produce chokes this year.
Thanks
Kelly

Hi Kelly,
Soon... Very Soon... Mine haven't started blossoming yet either... but this pic was taken yesterday and one short week it is exponentially larger ;-)

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Thanks. Great to hear. I can't wait to see them. Mine aren't near as big as yours but they are only from Sept of last year so I hope in a few they will get that big.

From what I've seen with my artichoke fall plantings will not flower until their second spring. I hope I'm wrong but I think you'll have to wait.

I wondered about that too. When I bought the two I have in mind they were already in gallon size pots and pretty big. They must have been started in the spring of last year, I would think. Do you think that would make a difference or not? We'll see. I'll have to keep you updated.

jonhughes has your plants shown artichokes yet? Last time we talked you thought it would be soon.

Can you grow these from seed?!?! I know the answer is yes, but I haven't figured out how. I planted 8 or 10 seeds (the entire packet) 6 weeks ago and not a single one came up. This was done under lights in my basement so I know no critter dug them up.

Is there some secret to growing artichokes from seed?

Yes you can. I ordered mine from Territorial Seeds and Johnny's and both came up. I planted two rows one of Imperial and one of Globe. I don't remember how many were in the pack but about 5 of each of them came up. I did this last spring and now they are small plants. I also bought two good sized plants from a local nursery that are pretty big now and hope they will produce this year! I did fertilize with Garrett Juice right after they started coming up. I can't wait to get somethign off them.

WOO HOO ! ! !

They are all bustin' a move ;-)

They are really doing great ;-)

I am sooo happy... it is going to be a wonderful year,hang on to your hats people ;-O

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Thanks kelkolkat.

Did you do something special when planting?

jonhughes-OMG That's great! I haven't seen any of that here. DO you think it will take any longer in Houston, TX vs. where you are? It's just now really starting to warm up here and we've had an unusual spring here. I notice down toward the middle the leaves are really gray and look different but I don't see any fruit coming up. Does it come from the center and then grows up on a stock?
Bart1- no actually I didn't do anything special at all when I planted just made some rows and dumped my seeds in, watered and a while later I noticed them coming up. Then I just used that Garrett Juice and watered, later once they had really come up I composted with locally bought stuff.

Here is one of my biggest plants... Ignore the lettuce that's gone to seed on the side, beans in the back and garlic shoots on the side that will be dug up in a month or so!!!

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Glad to see that my post is still active... LOL.

I was wondering jonhughes what kind of soil are your Artichokes planted in?

I'm thinking about planting mine in an area of my yard but with clay soil I'm pretty sure I'll need to fix the soil.

hi lnewport,

you can grow artichoke in a 18x18x18 container but the plant will not get to its max size and fruiting, i have
a alcachofa artichoke (emerald) in a 45 gallon smart pot
the seed sprouted 11-23-09 it is now four foot wide and
over four and one half heigh,it has twelve choks now I
will harvest the first one tomorrow.

last year i grew three globe plants two in the ground and one in a 15 gallon nursery pot the two in ground was three times as big and i harvisted 28 chokes the in pot one only gave me 14 choks.

i lived in houston three years, if your weather is somewhat like houstons you will not get choks that you can eat until about januray 1-0-11. it should produce for 5 to 6 years,best of luck and regards.

les matzek

Hi kelkolkat and lnewport,
Yes, they start from the center stalk,and that one is the largest (and the first) and then they start producing from additional stalks.
I use an auger and go down 3' and fill with my Homemade potting soil (I use my compost,clay soil,decomposed granite and Pumice and composted steer manure.)

For your sake ,I hope Les is incorrect,that would suck ,to have to wait till January ;-(

Hopefully they will start producing right away ;-)

Thanks JohnHughes. Those are amazing. I looked up what an auger is and never seen one of those before! I wish I could buy one of those, it would really save some labor in our heavy soil. Thanks for sharing your homemade potting soil recipe as well.

Woah Les matzek ,

A looked up what alcachofa artichoke are and they are some miracle weight loss product as well as a vegetable?? That is really cool. I don't need to lose any weight but that's a nifty piece of information I found.

Anyways I can't find them for sale though :( Seeds, plants nothing. Am I just not looking hard enough or is this the wrong season? I would love to try to grow some.

hi lnewport,

i need to clear my last statment a bit you may get some
chocks in the summer heat in texas but they will not
be eatable (tough and no flavor).

give them as much rooting area as you can they will give
bigger plants and more chocks, the three plants i grew
last year where glob from seed i harvested them in augest
they where tough with no flavor.

if you bought plants plant them but you will not eatable
chocks untill nex year.

i lucked out bc you said they help a person lose weight
and i could stand to lose about 40 pounds !!, i will be
eating the first chock tonight and if this plant will
give me 25 or 30 i will lose my excess weight ? ! ?

best of luck and my besr regards.

les matzek

plants

Thanks les matzek! So you are saying that my chokes may not be worth eating? Are you talking about Globe Artichokes as well? That's disappointing. I know I've seen people grow them here, maybe they too are growing them with wishful thinking? :(

I wish you luck with the Alcachofa Artichokes though :)

hi lnewport,

if you are going to plant two green globes plants in your
2 ft. by 6 ft. raised bed i would put each in the middle of the bed and about 1 ft. from each end the will spill
over the sides and they will overlap each other middle
( if they are healthy ).

imperial star and green globe will take about 90 days
after you plant them in the ground to fruit my choke
seed pack said it would take 180 to 360 days to fruit
my plant gave the first choke in 5 1/2 months, what
nutes do you plan to feed them ?, if i can help you
in any let me know, good luck with you plants !!.

best regards,

les matzek

jonhughes-still no chokes!!! I've been looking for something to come up from the middle but nothing yet. They are pretty big and were in a big container when I bought them last year. I would have thought for sure they would produce this spring. Do you recommend going ahead and doing this mixture you gave us? I have an auger and use it quite often but never thought to use it for side dressing. Is there another organic fertilizer you would recommend? I know they like Nitrogen, right? Not sure where I could get all the mix you have listed, do you buy it?

Hi kelkolkat,
I just took this pic this morning....they are all starting to "bust a move" ;-)

I wouldn't do anything just yet....
Lots of times they need a "cold snap" to know when to produce,some people have to "force the artichoke to concede,by doing that..." ,don't know if that applies to you or not, I know that I cut my plant all the way to the ground,each year and then cover it with its own leaves (piled a foot high) and then toss a pile of soil on top of the leaves, and when they want to come up ,they just bust right through ....

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ThatÂs where the "fooling Mother Nature" part comes into play. It is possible to grow globe artichokes as an annual, but most varieties will require a chilling period (known as vernalization) during the spring where the plants are exposed to cool temperatures below fifty degrees for a minimum number of hours.

You can provide this chilling experience by exposing your artichoke seedlings to outdoor temperatures during the months of March and early April, but donÂt leave them exposed outside when weather conditions are expected to drop close to, or below freezing, and donÂt transplant them out into the garden too soon.

Some artichoke are described as "annual" varieties that will produce buds during the first season but I would still try to expose these annual artichoke varieties to a vernalizing period of cooler spring temperatures. If youÂve experienced poor results with Globe or French Artichokes in your garden try this trick and see if the results are any better.
Cultivating and Enjoying Annual Artichokes

Three or four weeks of vernalization during March or April should be sufficient to fool the artichoke plant into believing that that it has lived through a winter season and encourage the plant to bud and produce at least a small harvest of those delicious chokes that same year.

Artichokes also struggle in growing regions that experience hot summers so you may want to experiment with shade cloth or wait and hope for the plants to revive as temperatures cool down towards summers end. Other than that just keep the artichoke plants fertilized, weeded, and wateredÂ

Here is a link that might be useful: Artichoke vernalization

does anyone know how long it takes for an artichoke seedling to go from seedling to producing plant?

Hi tornadoliese,
Apparently everybody is different,so I can only speak from my experience,last year I planted a two leaf seedling in the ground in march and harvested ten wonderful artichokes from it within a few few months (i think july ;-)

Here it is on 3-17-2009 just planted that day ;-)

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jonhughes-Thanks! We had an unusual winter here in Houston and strangely enough it was cold a lot here this winter. We even had snow in Houston. It was quite amazing. Anyway, I am not sure we got 55 days below 50 but we did have quite a few cold snaps. I will watch the globes for a couple weeks and see how it goes. The other ones are small Imperial Star so you think I could get a crop off them? Do they produce later in the season? What other types of fertilizer do you recommend?

I would certainly hope for that ;-)

I prefer using a combination of both organic and chemical fertilizers,Per 100 Square feet, just prior to planting (or side dressing, if the need should arise ;-), I incorporate 3 cups of bonemeal,2 cups of kelpmeal,and 3 cups of 13-13-13 fertilizer... but that's just me ;-)

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The above is a globe and it was planted from a cutting in spring 2009, (about 13-14 months ago). We have harvested the largest central choke and the next largest (5 total). It has a large pup behind which I will transplant in the fall.

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The above is another globe (even though the chokes have a different more elongated shape?) which was planted in the fall 2009. I was very surprised to get artichokes so soon, spring 2010. 4 of the 5 artichoke plants in that location have artichokes. I think they like it there.

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This one is an imperial star, which i grew from seed as soon as the seed arrived, but too late (early spring 2010). I will not get artichokes but I have tomatoes planted around it so it stays shaded in the heat of the summer. I am very curious to compare flavors, shapes, colors of the different artichokes.

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These two are romanescos, also grown from seed early this spring. They are looking very well, but no hope for chokes this spring. They are supposed to have purple chokes. As you can see they are interplanted with roses, calendulas, tomatoes, alliums and a few weeds.

Beautiful pictures Cabrita.

Does anyone else find it hard to harvest these to eat them? Or, is it perhaps just because I'm in a climate where they're hard to produce?

Seems such a shame to cut them off in their prime, before they open into that big, beautiful flower.

After all, I can buy them in the store to eat, all cut up and ready to dump into my recipe. Not quite as good as homemade, but without the angst from committing murder, when I could be watching the last summer butterflies flock to those glorious thistle blooms.

Denninmi, if you were in my climate you would change your mind! We have let some go to seed (produce the thistle purple/blue flowers) and they are indeed beautiful as you say. Then a few weeks/months later we had artichoke seedlings sprouting in places you would not imagine and in quantities that were hard to deal with! So I commit artichoke infanticide every chance I get! (thanks for the compliment by the way)

The insects get plenty to eat around here. I let some radishes, arugula, chard, kale, mustard, lettuces go to seed (and collect). The herbs all have flowers with lots of bees and other pollinators.

cabrita where are you located at? I am in Houston. Mine still have not produced :) they are huge and look great but no chokes. I got the big ones last year in pretty big pots from a nursery so I just knew they would produce this year. Do you use a lot of N fertilizer or what kind of soil do you keep them in? Amazing pictures..

jonhuges- A year later and I finally have chokes coming up. I have three different plants that each have two or three. Will they make more than that on each plant or is that it? Once I cut these off willmore come out over the summer or how does it work? Also do you ever fertilize the plants after they have started producing? I just want to make sure I don't mess them up if I need to do it.

Thanks in advance!!