Growing Artichokes in Spite of Mother Nature
An interesting question was raised by a gardener looking for tips regarding growing globe artichokes in the home garden:
“I want to grow artichokes this year up here in the Boston area. I have ordered the seeds and am wondering when to start them, when to transplant, and if I will get any edible buds this season. Isn’t there a way to “fool” Mother Nature into thinking this is the second season?” – David P
Globe Artichokes in the Home Garden
You won’t run across too many home gardeners cultivating globe artichokes in their gardens, but I love the challenge as well as the ornamental features that growing artichokes provides to the backyard veggie garden.
I’ve even been known to grow this exotic looking plant just to let them flower; which spoils the opportunity to harvest edible chokes, but produces an ornamental display of extremely large and colorful flowers to admire instead!
And it’s not just the flowers that are eye-catching, the leaves of the artichoke plant are attractive as well with their large rosettes of long serrated foliage that grow on plants reaching over four feet tall and just as wide in diameter.
Start Those Seeds: Indoors and Early
To answer the first part of David’s question; you want to get the seeds started very early, and February isn’t too soon for Northern growers to get the seeds potted up, germinated, and growing indoors under a set of fluorescent lights. Actually a late January start would probably be even better.
Artichoke plants aren’t difficult to germinate or to grow from seed but the tricky part is nurturing the plants to the stage that they will produce buds during a single season in cold weather growing regions.
Globe Artichokes are more of a semi-perennial type of plant that typically grows leafy foliage during its first season and fruits in the seasons subsequent to that initial year… the problem for the backyard grower is that the artichoke plant won’t survive outdoors in gardens that experience cold winters, making it unlikely that they will perennialize or ever bear fruit.
Sometimes it’s OK to Fool Mother Nature
That’s 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 don’t leave them outside when weather conditions are expected to drop close to, or below freezing, and don’t transplant them out into the garden too soon.
Some artichoke seeds 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 you’ve 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 watered…
And hopefully you’ll be faced with the same question and dilemma that I was… Do you harvest and eat the tender young artichokes? Or do you allow the chokes to fully mature and blossom into an unusual flower so that you can enjoy the beautiful sight?
Other Related Vegetable Gardening Posts:
May 29th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I can let you know that it is possible to overwinter artichoke plants in the Northeast. I managed to overwinter 2 artichoke plants in the ground in the Philadelphia suburbs this winter and found a new seedling growing yesterday (possibly from seed that remained in the ground) for a total of 3. I covered them with about a foot of oak and comfrey leaves in the fall (not pretty, I know, but sometimes we gardeners have to make sacrifices), then I just hoped for the poor plants’ survival. Shortly before St. Patrick’s Day I removed all the oak leaves from the plants and saw the tiny plants barely poking out of the ground and just hoped for some sign of growth. I didn’t expect anything so I had seedlings that I started in January just in case. Now, the overwintered plants are really healthy and the largest one of the bunch has 2-3 foot leaves already. Since this is technically their second year hopefully I’ll get some artichokes this season (I just can’t bring myself to pay $3 for an artichoke).
May 29th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Moni, thanks for the tips on over wintering globe artichokes. I’ve had mixed results in the past even with thick mulches or portable cold frames. This winter I did have one plant survive with no protection whatsoever for the entire winter… go figure! I feel you on the price of artichokes being right up there with a gallon of gasoline, but my biggest dilemma is always bringing myself to cut the artichoke buds rather than allowing them to open up into a flower!
August 18th, 2008 at 10:13 am
I have started an artichoke in a five gallon bucket and it is doing well. I do not want to put it in the garden. What do I do over the winter? I tried covering them and they did not make it last year in the garden. Can I bring in the bucket over winter? Does it need to be in a window? Please help, I don’t want to lose this plant. Thanks Kristine
August 19th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Hi Kristine, I would leave the artichoke plants outside until they go dormant in late fall or early winter and then trim the leaves off and move the containers into an unheated garage or storage shed until you can move them back out next spring. Add just a little water once a month to keep the soil from drying out but the dormant artichokes will not need any sunlight while they are in storage. I’ve had limited success this way with globe artichoke roots that were lifted from the garden and stored in a bucket of barely moist soil during the winter months. Good luck and let me know how well your artichoke plant survives the winter.
August 30th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Thank you for your advice. I will let you know how it works this spring. When I cut the leaves off do I cut them completely back? Thanks again. Kristine
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
If you have any other suggestions for me, please let me know. Thanks, Kristine
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Yes, after it turns cold and the artichoke plants go dormant or are lifted you can cut the leaves pretty much completely back leaving a few inches above the crown of the plant.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
I planted seeds two weeks ago, hopefully these will make it, i have tried 3 times maybe 4 times the charm. I cannot afford to pay 9.99 for the plants and 9.49 for them to mail the clumps to me.
January 4th, 2009 at 10:46 am
All of your comments are wonderful help, since this is my first year to grow them in Chicago area. I will try several locations and several ways to store them at season end. Thanks for all of the great info
January 4th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Dee and Oneal, good luck with your artichokes, they are a good challenge, attractive, and fun to grow, even if they don’t measure up for the space and effort required when compared to the size of the harvest that they will produce.
January 5th, 2009 at 8:29 am
How long does it takes to germinate they have been in the ground for about three weeks or a little more. When can I expect to see some growth?
January 5th, 2009 at 8:39 am
I should have my seeds next week. What is the best medium for planting indoors ? Filtered light ?
January 5th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I do remember artichoke seeds being a little slow to germinate but three weeks should have been long enough. How fresh are your seeds? Did you start them indoors in containers? Have you kept the soil slightly moist or covered them with a humidity dome or enclose the containers in a plastic bag until they germinate? Dee, I would use a soil-less seed starting mix to plant the artichoke seeds in. After they germinate the seedlings will need to be provided with a good source of direct light if you are raising them indoors.
February 15th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Hi Mr Kenny Point,
I live in Wisconsin and am going to try growing Green Globe Artichokes. I planted seed in Dec. of 08 and now my plants are about 6″ tall.
I will vernalize them in late April and early May I have them growing in 16oz cups. Would I cut the foliage to the ground before I vernalize them or just let them be? Any help with this experiment would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Charlie
February 15th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Hi Charlie, there’s no need to cut the foliage, just let the artichoke plants continue growing as usual while you vernalize them. It sounds like your seedlings may need to be repotted to larger containers before you are ready to permanently set them out into the garden. Good luck, artichokes are pretty cool plants for a home gardener to experiment with.
February 19th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Hi. My question has to do with summers that are too hot. We have a couple of months of almost unbearable heat here in Texas. Is there a way to grow globe artichokes here?
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Ann, all I can say is that the globe artichokes struggle in my garden during the most intense stages of the summer, but they rebound and recover nicely once summer winds down. You can experiment with things like timing your plantings so that the artichokes grow during the cooler periods of your region, or maybe even grow them with the aid of a little shade cloth. Good luck, they are fun to grow but definitely a bit of a challenge without the ideal climate for them!
March 5th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I planted some artichoke seeds in the green house and the chokes are coming up. now they are two inches tall and now have three leaves on them however, i am still reluctant to move them to a larger pot. How many inches should they be before i transplant them to a larger size pot.
March 7th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Hi Kenny,
My artichokes were transplanted to a larger pot and now are about 1 foot tall. Now I have a problem. Some of my plants have light brown spots all over their leaves. The leaves then dry and shrivel up. Can you tell me whats happening?
Charlie
March 11th, 2009 at 11:47 am
On impulse, I picked up some artichoke seeds and promptly set them up so they may germinate. Which they did with fervor (five out of about six or seven seeds)! They were then put into pots, and once it became warm set outside. Their response to direct light was whithering up. They seem unresponsive to moisture or changes in location. I am completely inexperienced and unprepared! Help!
May 5th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I used a cold frame this winter to hold over my arti’s. I live in the high desert climate of Carson City NV. My question is, How long can I expect my plants to survive and produce in this growing region? do they produce year after year? or, like strawberries ,should I start new plants every few years?
May 6th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Hi Rich, if you can nurse globe artichokes through the winter months they are perennials that will continue to produce and bear ‘chokes’ for the kitchen. It is recommended to take shoots or divisions after a few years of production to start new plants as the established artichokes slow and loose vitality.
May 8th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Great site. Thanks for your time on these matters. I have heard that one of the issues with artichokes and hot weather is that of tough globes. Is this true? Any idea if I start the seeds now (early May ‘09) if I can expect to harvest artichokes before hot weather due here around the same time next year? I live about 200miles from the Gulf Of Mexico. Not worried about them overwintering here, just making artichokes early enough next year that they won’t be tough. I can overwinter them in an unheated garage (temps in the 40’s, min) with a grow light if necessary. TIA for any ideas/input.
May 8th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Hi Beth, there are some artichoke varieties that are bred and intended to be grown as annuals and if you planted one of these varieties you should be able to mature a harvest of chokes in the time frame that you described. The issue with some of the regular globe artichoke varieties is that they usually must go through a period of exposure to cold weather in order to bear fruit since they behave as perennials.
May 15th, 2009 at 7:51 am
[...] all boils down to “can I grow artichokes?” [...]
May 21st, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Anyone have any tips about watering? I am in California, and I am getting yellow foliage, I am new to this but am I over watering? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:42 am
Brian,
You have over watered as I ALWAYS do. If these are potted plants, I suggest buying a bag of Perlite to mix in which will help aerate the soil; give it better drainage. Adding peebles in the bottom of the pot could also help. Miracle Grow, also, has this mew Moisture Control soil that I just decided to try..
If you can, dump out the wet soil onto newspaper to dry out, replant the plant in new perlite mixed soil.
May 29th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
I have a question about globe ‘chokes’. I live in central berks county PA. I have my ‘choke’ plants intermixed with elephant ears. There is plenty of seperation room. They are planted in full sun, and loose soil intermixed with small river stones. I also have some in large terracotta pots. The ones in the ground look AMAZING. The ones in the pots not so hot. The leaves are browning and falling off. I put 1/2 cup of organic bone meal and 1/4 cup of organic dried blood mixed with other organic fertalizer. On all the plants when I planted them. Did I over fertalize? Or is there another reason. There are small green leaves shooting from the base but all the big leaves are falling off. What do I do?
May 30th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Justin, have you been watering the artichoke plants that are growing in the containers, they will probably tend to dry out quicker than the plants that are in the ground?
June 14th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Thanks for this info. I’m trying this for the 1st time this year. Thanks!
August 6th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I did it! I live in Iowa and I successfully raised one in a planter. My plant has a tiny 1 1/2 inch globe artichoke! Now, when do I harvest it? And, should I bring the whole plant inside next to a sunny window for the winter, or should I just put it in the garage and let it go to sleep?
August 6th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Congrats Foodie, that’s pretty impressive that you managed to raise an artichoke in Iowa, and in a container at that! You can harvest the artichoke at whatever size you prefer. Pick it while the bud is still tight and before it starts to open. If you leave it the bud will open into an attractive purple flower.
August 6th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
We live in San José, CA, close to artichoke ground zero, and have four plants on the side of the driveway. Three gave us delicious chokes this year, the fourth one I believe is not getting either enough sun or water or both, for it’s the same size as when it was planted a year ago (Aug. 2008). We let two out of the three producing plants bloom; we cut off all the chokes from the third one, which is now growing shoots out of its base.
My questions are: 1) what should I do with the blooming plants? Cut back and hope they yield another year? 2) is the non-blooming plant growing a shoot precisely because it did not bloom? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!
August 6th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Hi Liliana, I would cut the blooming artichokes back when they are done and don’t know any reason why they wouldn’t continue to produce for you. Here in the north artichokes are often treated as annuals because of the cold winters but that is not an issue for you in San Jose. I’m not sure that I follow what you are describing as shoots on the third artichoke plant. I would watch to see if these new “shoots” on the plant will produce new chokes.