2017 artichoke report:
I bought 8 artichoke plants last spring and got 2 small artichokes. I ate both of them
Well they died back in the summer heat. Now, two of them have started growing the last month. They are about 10" tall now






My question is how to tell if the missing 6 plants are really dead?


I don't want to buy 6 more and the older ones start growing. How long should I wait?

They have a long tap root. Dig down beside where they were growing and gently see if that tap root is firm or if dead it would be mushy or soft.

I know exactly where I planted them. Dug down 6" around 2 of them. There is no crown at all!
I guess something ate them.
Something ate the tops off a couple of times last summer.
Previous ones died in the heat
Those before that died in the pots.

In fact ALL previous artichokes died, that's my problem.
I need to move somewhere I can grow sweet peas, blue Himalayan poppies, and artichokes. Then I can complain about my tomatoes, watermelon, eggplant, and peppers!

You might be better off trying to grow them as annuals. I'm not sure how cold it gets in your area during winter, but I'd try starting them during your fall and getting them out once the temps are cool, like 70 degrees , and see if they would over winter and then produce before your hot summers start. Get Imperial Star which has a shorter growing season. They like it damp and cloudy a lot. Keep them mulched heavily to keep the soil from getting to hot or cold. They are very heavy feeders needing some side dressing as they grow. Maybe try filtering the sun some to keep them from getting too much direct sunlight. I know that's a lot of messing around, but they are so good it may be worth the effort.

I ordered imperial artichokes from Amazon so we didn't have to pay shipping fees.



Also, so while I was snooping around I decided to try these

I love artichokes too! I've only had store bought ones. Does anyone know why sometimes there's a nice big heart and sometimes almost none? Different varieties or what?

Probably different varieties. If you give them a bit of a squeeze you can usually tell the general size of the heart.

Squeezing it is!

I watched a YouTube about dividing artichokes, so I decided to divide this one into 3 pieces;



That way I can cancel the globe seeds from amazon.
Also, made some little wire plant guards since something seems to be eating them;



Watered them;




And put out a soaker hose;

Hi , Y'all 😎
Warm weather artichokes ?
YES there is .
But, you'll have to do some researching . I can't remember variety of mine.
They will survive freezing temperatures of S.J.valley, zones 8 and 9. Produce in spring to mid summer. And, come back in fall.
😎😎😎

I think purple of romagna is a little more heat tolerant. I'm just curious which one of these pictures is accurate.

I've seen some pretty dark purple ones in the store at times. I suspect there are a few different varieties of the purple ones. Here's a link to Seeds From Italy's artichoke page.
http://www.growitalian.com/cat...

Howdy There Kitty 😎
I wouldn't doubt that newer varieties have been developed. Mine aren't purple. One is a globe, the other has the pointed choke leaves.
You keep searching, I'll do some research to. You peeked my interest now.
Let me know, and I'll let you know, what we come up with.
🕵️🕵️🕵️

All of the choke pics above are the same choke, but they all look different. Just wondering if anyone has a purple of romanga, which pic is accurat?
Thanks for the seed co. @tveguy3, I'll check it out asap

Yo ! Kitty ! I got some results. .😀
There are several warm weather artichokes. I googled, Warm weather artichokes. It took me to : ( home guides.sfgate.com )
( how to care for an artichoke plant in hot climates )
Lists of varieties, care, etc.
Happy planting. 👍
😎😎😎

I got my artichoke seeds today. There are so many different online instructions about growing them, I haven't a clue what to do.
Should I buy this instead of using a large pot?



One site said to fertilize every 4 weeks with 21-0-0. Wouldn't I get a artichoke tree and no artichokes?
Is there someone here that's grown them from seed successfully and can give me some help?

I have always started mine from seeds as the plants aren't available here. I put the seeds in a wet paper towel, wrapped them with aluminum foil and placed it in a warm spot until they start to sprout. Then I planted them in a potting mix. I gave them weekly miracle grow until I could transplant them into individual pots. (I had to chill them then to make them think that they had gone through a winter before they were ready to plant in the garden.) I dug a trench about 9 inches deep and put down some well rotted chicken manure and then covered it with soil. I planted them with in a plastic mulch and watered often and side dressed with a high nitrogen fertilizer. I wouldn't recommend the plastic mulch by you as your summers are way hotter then mine. I don't think you would need to do the chilling step as if you plant them soon, they would get the chill required to make them bloom next spring.

I haven't grown them for a couple of years now. If I recall, I only got about a 50% germination rate from the seeds.

Your plants looked really great, Tom. How long did they last, and how many crops did you get?

Our winters are too brutal for them to survive, but I did get a lot of chokes to eat that summer. I tried burying them with a fresh manure and shavings mulch hoping I could get some of them to survive the winter, but we had a stretch of near minus 20 degrees for about 4 days, and none of them survived. It was a fun project to see if I could get them to produce, but it's a bit too much effort for the outcome to do it often. I have thought of trying one in a large container and bringing it into the house for the winter, but haven't done that.

Howdy Kitty
Wow 😮 ! Look at all those chokes Tom planted. He must of had a whole army platoon to feed. Good job Tom.👍 Great instructions also.👍🕵️
Well Kitty, I wouldn't start seeds in such small containers. Something like a pony-pac size would be good, I believe. Of course , how many you planing to grow ? I don't believe all chokes need a cold period. There's thousands of thousands grown close to the California coast, where the climate is mild year round.
I'd get them seeds started, like ?humm🤔??? The day before yesterday !😮!!!
They sell plants hear, in 4 inch to one gallon containers. The one gallon pots, the plants are about half the size of in Tom's picture.

You made mention of being afraid of using nitrogen, 'because your not growing trees !' Well, in a way, you are growing TREES ! That's : Very Miniature Tree's ! He he.
Plants will grow around six foot diameter, and maybe as tall as you ?
Think tomatoes ??? High nitrogen, to get them big ! Then, when there ready to produce. You cut the nitrogen, so plant energy will go into production mode.

O'oo ! What variety did you get ? 🕵️

Ttfn 💃
Philip 😎😎😎