Image
Feb 17, 2012 1:00 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Hi everyone, I'm a newbe to this forum. I really like artichokes, and decided I'd try to grow them. They seem to need about 100 day growing period, and the new varieties produce chokes the first year. (I know they'd never make the winter here) I wondered if anyone has had luck with them, or has any advice on how to start them. Should I plant them in pots and transplant later? Do they transplant? or should I just put them in the ground. Maybe I can try both ways and see what happens. Tom
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Feb 18, 2012 2:23 PM CST
Name: Linda
Carmel, IN (Zone 5b)
Forum moderator I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Charter ATP Member Region: Indiana Dog Lover Container Gardener
Seed Starter Herbs Vegetable Grower Cut Flowers Butterflies Birds
I grew artichokes for the last 2 years. They are an annual in our zone, and to get them to set buds the first year, they need about 250 hours of temps under 50 degrees.
I started mine indoors in February, and as soon as they had their first set of true leaves, I transplanted them into deep 4" pots (they do grow taproots). Starting about mid-late March, I set the pots in the refrigerator every night for 8 hours, and did this for a month. That was the only way I could ensure that they got the 250 hours of cooler temps they needed. I finally planted them outdoors in mid-May (our last frost date is May 15), and 2 of my 3 plants got buds last year.

I think I needed to fertilize more, as I've read they are heavy feeders. My artichokes were on the smaller side, but I was still happy.

I've already got my plants started for this year. Germination is variable--I've had the best luck in a damp paper towel inside a baggie. The seeds that look more "white" in color generally do not germinate. I'm growing Imperial Star variety.

Good luck with your experiment!
Image
Feb 19, 2012 4:55 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Thanks Mom2goldens, Imperial Star is what I have. The seed catalog says they produce in one year, and take 85 days, I better get them going fast. Tom
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Feb 19, 2012 9:32 AM CST
Name: Horseshoe Griffin
Efland, NC (Zone 7a)
And in the end...a happy beginning!
I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar Charter ATP Member Garden Sages Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle I sent a postcard to Randy! I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
For our friend, Shoe. Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Enjoys or suffers cold winters Birds Permaculture Container Gardener
Same here, Imperial Star. Although I grew some back in the late '80s that was when my soil wasn't up to snuff (fairly fresh-cleared land). I had beautiful plants but no buds. Have no idea which variety those were back then either.

Last year (or year before) I got Imperial Star (Johnny's Seeds) and had excellent results! It can take quite a while for some of the seeds to declare but I got quite a few to germ by soaking them a day or so. I start them in row flats then, like moms2goldens did, move them up to 4" pots. It's cool enough here during the nights in Feb/March/April to get the required vernalization time in .

I harvested some buds first year, fairly small but tasty! They should be perennial here but I found out the deer like them more than anything else in the garden. Hopefully I'll raise my fence height this year before it's too late, or keep them covered in row cover if needed.

Imperial Star artichoke seedlings (before true leaves)



Imperial Star artichoke seedlings moved to 4" pots:



Small Imperial Star artichoke bud



I'll have to see if I have better pics of the whole plant and put them in the database.

Shoe
Image
Feb 19, 2012 9:34 AM CST
Name: Horseshoe Griffin
Efland, NC (Zone 7a)
And in the end...a happy beginning!
I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar Charter ATP Member Garden Sages Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle I sent a postcard to Randy! I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
For our friend, Shoe. Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Enjoys or suffers cold winters Birds Permaculture Container Gardener
tveguy, I forgot where you said (on another thread, I think) where your location is. That would be helpful to have on your posts so people can more accurately give you more pertinent suggestions on growing questions. You can add it in your Profile section if you like.

Shoe
Image
Feb 19, 2012 11:25 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
I'm on the Southern edge of Wisconsin, Zone 5b. I will have to get my profile going I guess. thanks for the info. Don't forgt my Chow Chow recipe! lol.
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Feb 19, 2012 11:38 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
There, how's that?
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Feb 19, 2012 12:07 PM CST
Name: Linda
Carmel, IN (Zone 5b)
Forum moderator I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Charter ATP Member Region: Indiana Dog Lover Container Gardener
Seed Starter Herbs Vegetable Grower Cut Flowers Butterflies Birds
That helps, Tom--thanks! Your growing season should be pretty similar to mine. Keep us posted on how your artichokes do. Will you be growing them in the ground or in containers? I'm using containers--trying to get anything with a tap root established in our hard clay soil just doesn't work well.
Image
Feb 19, 2012 12:51 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
I have really sandy sub=soil here, with about 20 inches of very rich black dirt on top. I think this must have been a lake bed in pre-historic times. I'm goining to plant them inside and transplant outside. I may try to put some in large containers and braing them in over winter as an experiment. We'll see how they germinate. Since I have a bunch of horses, I have lots of compost to add to the soil, making it really nice.
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Feb 28, 2012 12:28 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Yippie, one of the seeds is sending out a root! I soaked them, then put them in a wet paper towel in a plastic bag. I put them in potting soil today. We will see what happens now.
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Feb 28, 2012 5:02 PM CST
Name: Linda
Carmel, IN (Zone 5b)
Forum moderator I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Charter ATP Member Region: Indiana Dog Lover Container Gardener
Seed Starter Herbs Vegetable Grower Cut Flowers Butterflies Birds
YAY!! Isn't that exciting to see? Keep us posted on your progress.

My artichokes are just getting their true set of leaves. It seems like they grow so slowly at the start. I'll start the vernalization in about 3-4 weeks (thanks to Shoe for reminding me of that word--it would just not come to mind in my earlier post).
Image
Mar 5, 2012 9:17 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
I have two poking their heads out of the soil! Even if no more germinate, I'll at least have two to play with this summer. If I can keep them alive, lol
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Mar 5, 2012 9:13 PM CST
Name: Linda
Carmel, IN (Zone 5b)
Forum moderator I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Charter ATP Member Region: Indiana Dog Lover Container Gardener
Seed Starter Herbs Vegetable Grower Cut Flowers Butterflies Birds
Good job, Tom. I think getting them to sprout is half the battle. Hurray!
Image
Mar 6, 2012 6:06 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Now I have 6 up, I'm really glad, everything I read said they were hard to germinate, so I had visions of no plants. 6 out of 25 seeds isn't too good though, but it's enough for the experiment. Of course, a few more could still come up.
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Mar 6, 2012 7:08 PM CST
Name: Horseshoe Griffin
Efland, NC (Zone 7a)
And in the end...a happy beginning!
I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar Charter ATP Member Garden Sages Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle I sent a postcard to Randy! I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
For our friend, Shoe. Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Enjoys or suffers cold winters Birds Permaculture Container Gardener
Don't give up on them yet, Tom. I have some that came up in 3 days (on a heat mat and presoaked) and others that took as long as 3 or 4 weeks to declare. You may still get plenty to play with.

Shoe
Image
Mar 7, 2012 7:15 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
I'm pleased as punch with the 6 that have come up. Gurneys says in their catalog that they take 90 days, then on their seed packets it says 150. Pretty deceiving I think, but with the start indoors, I should be able to make the 150 days. How cool do they need to get, and how long of a chilling period do they need?
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Mar 14, 2012 8:06 PM CST
Name: Linda
Carmel, IN (Zone 5b)
Forum moderator I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Charter ATP Member Region: Indiana Dog Lover Container Gardener
Seed Starter Herbs Vegetable Grower Cut Flowers Butterflies Birds
Tom--How are your artichokes doing? Mine have several sets of leaves, and this week I started the vernalization process. Our weather is unusually warm, so I'm sticking with the overnight refrigeration method to get my temps below 50 degrees. We're not even getting below 50 overnight, which is very unusual for us in March.....
Image
Mar 15, 2012 4:05 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Hi Linda, I ended up with 7 babies! lol, they are just starting to get their second leaves. How many nights do they need to be in the fridge? And how big do they need to be before you do that? It's been really warm here too getting to about 45/50 at night, and in the high 70's during the day. Of course it is March, so things could change back to colder weather.
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Image
Mar 16, 2012 5:04 PM CST
Name: Linda
Carmel, IN (Zone 5b)
Forum moderator I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Charter ATP Member Region: Indiana Dog Lover Container Gardener
Seed Starter Herbs Vegetable Grower Cut Flowers Butterflies Birds
Tom, I read somewhere (can't remember the source, though) that said 250 hours. I probably did about 300 hours last year (10 hours/night for a month) and I did get mine to set buds.

I started putting mine in when they were about 6 weeks old, and had just a few sets of leaves.
Image
Mar 16, 2012 5:17 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Thanks I'll give it my best, lol
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.

Only the members of the Members group may reply to this thread.
  • Started by: tveguy3
  • Replies: 319, views: 14,594
Member Login:

( No account? Join now! )

Today's site banner is by Zoia and is called "Volunteer"

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.