Linda, the 250 hrs vernalization is what I remember also, but it doesn't have to just be at night. And that info came from Johnny's Seeds. I just checked their site and they have now changed it to:

"Time transplanting so plants get 8-10 days of temperatures around 50°F (10°C) to induce earlier budding. Protect from frost."

Go figger, eh?

Last year when I grew them I was fortunate and had the required cold temps and actually ate artichokes! Yay! Unfortunately I found out the deer also like them and ate their share, too!

I'm growing them again and they have met the original 250 hrs vernalization already so maybe I'll have good luck, or good fortune again this year.

Hope this helps.
Shoe

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking about pilling on a bunch of hay next fall to see if I can keep them alive over winter. Might put one in a container too to bring inside. What do you think? I'd have to keep the ground from freezing right!

I'd try it. I think the Imperial Star that I'm growing is hardy to only zone 7 and you'll certainly be more cold than that. Containers, or at least one, would probably be a better bet.

Shoe

If I had tried it last year, I'd bet it would have worked, as we had such a mild winter the ground never froze too deeply. But we'll give it a try.

I'm glad you agree with the 250 hours, Shoe. I just do the overnight thing because it's convenient and easy to remember...pop 'em in the refrigerator when I got to bed, take 'em out when I go to work in the morning.

Shoe...how do you fertilize your artichokes, and when do you start feeding them regularly?

Ok, so I planted them on Feb. 29, and I got 8 to germinate, Today, number 9 showed it's face! a whole month later then the others. Wow, Shoe, you said some could come later, now I don't know if more will come up. The first ones are about 3 inches tall already.

Congrats! Take care of those babies, Tom. I hope your weather has been perfect for them. I remember Johnny's suggests planting out at 6-8 weeks...will that put you at your last frost?

"Shoe...how do you fertilize your artichokes, and when do you start feeding them regularly?"

I'm sorry, Moms/Linda...I think I read that post then wandered off that day. What I did was add good stuff to the planting hole (a home-made soil mix, mushroom compost, and a handful of tomato food) and then just watered them as needed. This year I think I'll do something similar, based on what supplies are on hand, and water with fish emulsion, something I tend to use quite often here.

I have noticed this...the few that made it from last year are up and growing and are of good size! I'll have to take pics and add to the data base. I'll lightly top dress those this week or give them some fish emulsion. There is still a chance of frost here (or freeze) so will play it by ear.

Shoe

Well, here are my 8 babies! It's going to be about 3 more weeks before I can plant them outside. Do you think I should put them in larger pots? or would the extra move just be added stress? Good grief, I feel like a new parent, lol

Hi, Tom:

Your babies are looking great! Mine are a bit larger than yours but mine have to wait a bit for planting out also. Our weather is fine, but I had hand surgery last month.....really bad timing to lose use of your dominant hand at the beginning of the gardening season,

I think you're OK in your present pots, but maybe Shoe will weigh in as he has much more experience with this

I'll try to get some pics this weekend to post of my babies. I planted mine in deep pots since they develop tap roots. I'm hoping I can transplant them without too much disruption.

Well this was an unexpected end to one of my 3 artichokes. I had one in a pot, and 2 in the ground. A rabbit ate one of the ones in the ground down to just a stub in one evening. Grrr.......I'm removing the other one that is the ground and transplanting it to a pot before the rabbit decides to make dinner of that one, as well, It just kills me to lose one of these as long as they take to grow

Oh that's a shame. Maybe a fence around them? That one might come back if they didn't eat it off too short. I hope the rabbits leave mine alone! I have 7 in the garden, and one in a pot. They seem to be doing OK, They sure suck up the water. I don't think they like intence sun light either. How big of a pot do you have yours in? I don't know how long their tap root gets. Good luck with your remaining plants.

Well, thought I'd share a few pics of the artichokes so far. They seem to be healthy even after a week long streach of 100+ weather. They sure grow slowly. I'm not to confident that they will produce buds before the first frost.
This is a close up of one of the ave. sized ones.


This one got eaten off by a rabbit, but it has come back. It "stooled", went from one main stem to having about 3. It's smaller then the rest.


Here's the whole row.

I've got an Artichoke Baby! I think??? It's only the size of a 50 cent piece, but since I've never grown them I don't know much about how big it will get, or when to harvest before it opens. Here's a couple pics.


Anyone info you can give me will be helpful! Thanks

Congrats, Tom!

I'd keep it well-watered and let it get as big as you can. When you see the layers of the bud begin to loosen up and open you need to pick it asap or it'll get tough/fibrous.

I let some of mine flower this year for seed stock. I'll come back later and post.

Shoe

Thanks Shoe, you are alway so helpful. I've been gardening a long time, but this is the first time I've tried these.

You're welcome.

And I can tell by your pics you know your way around a garden. By the way, do you have the bedder/plastic layer that runs behind a tractor? Your rows look very professional! Very nice and neat!

I never got time to take pics today; we had a nice rain move in and for that I'm grateful. Will post more later though.

Happy Gardening!
Shoe

Well, if you looked closely, you'd see the rows are a bit crooked,lol. My neighbor is a truck farmer, and has one. He gives me the ends of the plastic rolls, and I just put them down by hand. It sure does make for easier gardening. I use each row two years, then pull them up. Usually tomatoes one year, and then peppers, egg plant the next. I have more space then I need, so I cover half with a tarp and, rotate. I plant the vine plants next to the tarp and let them run on top of it. My Grandma was an avid gardener, and I learned a lot from her. She used to let me have a small area for a garden of my very own, so I've been growing things since I was about 8 years old. My mother just wasn't a gardener, although, I remember my dad would do some veggie gardening at times. By the time I was about 12, I had a pretty nice veggie garden going. Funny how I'm still learning, so much to learn.

Congrats on the baby artichoke, Tom. I have lost all 3 of my plants....1 to rabbits, and 2 to some larvae-type creatures that seem to settle in where the central bud is starting to form. Within a very short time, the main bud is toast, and the rest of the plant soon follows. I need to try to figure out what these guys are that are doing this--had the same problem last year just as my first artichoke was developing.

Sorry to hear about the rabbit damage, and the larvae. One of my plants had some rabbit damage, but it came back With multiple main stems, and now I see that it too has a tiny bud starting. The one with the larger bud has another smaller one coming on too. Do you know if they can survive some frost?, or does it kill the plant. I've been thinking about laying down some straw over the plants to winter them, but they would have to be able to withstand some frost. I was thinking that they would need to be taller before they produced buds. The pictures of plants I saw were all taller.

Tom--not sure about the frost protection. Perhaps someone with more experience will weigh in....

Keep me posted with your progress.

Linda