I got purple romanga because it's supposed to be more heat tolerant, and green globe are not hearty here. I got them late because I didn't know most of my globe chokes had died. Then, I couldn't find anything consistent instructions.

Need alkaline soil vs need acid soil.
Feed every month vs feed twice a year
Plant 6' apart vs plant 2' apart
Water frequently vs water only if drooping
Very easy to grow vs very difficult.
Also cut back in the fall..........mine just started growing!
Anyway, mine are in wet paper and aluminium foil as instructed by Tom. That I can manage.

Artichokes are perennials I'm told and start producing during their second year. The reason I had to chill them (a process called vernalization) is to trick them into thinking they had gone through a winter so they would produce in one season as they won't live through our winters. Certainly in warmer regions where they can live year round they would probably start to produce during their second year without the "fake winter". Back at the beginning of this thread when I was just trying to learn how to make them produce in my zone, all of this was discussed, and explained nicely by some helpful people.

TK I started my seeds individually in 4 inch Peat pots. That seemed to give them enough space to grow into plants to put in the ground without having to transplant them into larger pots as they grew. Plants are adaptable enough to deal with a wide variety of care. If they start to wilt before you water them they will recover, but I don't like to weaken them like that so I tried, not always successfully, to water them often enough so they didn't wilt.

Here they are just getting their secondary leaves

This is what they looked like shortly before I put them in the garden. They are still in the same peat pots.

Here they are with the chokes showing in July

The harvest


I can just taste them

Just please don't add lemon juice or vinegar to the cooking water. It just kills the delicate flavor!

Just cook/steam them in water and dip in butter. OMG now I am drooling.

Yep! And then after the leaves the delicious heart drenched in salted melted butter. It's a feast!

Howdy Tom 😎
?🤔??? Gee. I've never had chokes dipped in butter. For me, it's always been mayonnaise. Everything is better with mayo thing, around these parts.
Could it be an Eastern / Western thing ? ?.....
Eastern thing, chokes dipped in butter.
Western thing, chokes dipped in mayo.
Let's not get off subject hear. Let's take it to sandbox forum, I'll talk to y'all there in a bit .
😎😎😎

Artichoke eating discussion just started. In the, Sandbox forum.
under. ' U taste 4 artichokes '
Let's go !
😎😎😎

There's nothing wrong with discussing the flavor here of what we grow. That'd be like not posting about the flavors of tomato varieties.

OK then. I vote mayonnaise for dipping ! 👍
Woof 🐕😋

OK, as long as we can discuss the flavor of what we grow, we like our artichokes with a simple white sauce that has some herbs and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Yum!

Wow, I never knew there was a thread about artichokes!

I would like to grow them...especially now that I have enough space.

My introduction to eating artichokes was my friend Holly. Her parents ate all kinds of (strange to me) things. After cutting the tips of each leaf and cooking the artichokes, we dipped them into pure olive oil to which seasoning had been added. They had to show me how to scrape the 'meat' off the leaf with my teeth. It was messy but fun!

My artichoke seeds have not sprouted after 2 weeks. Those of you who have grown your own, how long did it take to sprout?

Cool weather or wrong time of year.

It's been so long since I grew them that I don't remember how long it took, but I think it was a while. I do remember that the first year I just planted them in pots, and I got a really poor germination rate, only 6 or so grew that year. I do remember that I kept the seeds near the wood stove so that they were nice and warm, but not too hot.

Howdy there, Miss Kitty
My last answer was not very complete . Cool weather will slow down germination.
They need some warmth.
Are you starting them inside house , with lites, and what kind of lites ?
Have a plant warming pad under them ? Depending on temperatures, they will need warming pad/s at least till they sprout. Did you plant seeds at proper depth ? Maybe seeds need to be stratified , ie : put in frig for a few weeks, to simulate winter.
If there outside, there probably not going to sprout till around March or April , when the temps warm up.
Good Luck 👍
😎😎😎

My seeds, that look like bugs, are inside, in a wet paper napkin, wrapped in aluminum foil, and on top of a uv light. Pleasently warm. It's been 2 weeks now. I will transfer them to trays when/ if they sprout.
Should I put them in the fridge, or outside with freeze protection?

Either ! They need more time to germanate ! Butt ! I'm thinking, you suffocated them from oxygen.

To my knowledge, artichoke seeds don't need to be stratified in a fridge to germinate. They also don't need oxygen to start sprouting roots. When mine started to sprout, I planted all of the seeds, including the ones that didn't sprout. I had some of the seeds grow that hadn't sprouted, but not many. It's been so long since I've done this, wish someone with more experience growing them would jump in. Maybe go back to the beginning of this thread and see what you might find.

Ok, read all of this thread again. Learned some things. Read some things I don't remember saying. Had some pics that didn't look like my garden. It's only been a couple years too.

Anyway, have a plan for this year.

good luck. Keep us posted.