Artichoke from seed

The Tucson Gardener

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Artichoke Plants from Seed
When I was growing up in what was central Tucson back in the 50's my mother would plant an artichoke plant in the back yard not so much for the globe shaped artichoke but for the purplish blooms that followed. And if I remember correctly, the flowers were usually large as was the plant itself with blue grey foliage. She never seemed to have any trouble growing plants that were three to four feet tall.

Me, on the other hand, have never managed to keep a transplant alive. I must admit the plants I usually find in the garden center are less than ideal. Usually kind of puny, nothing too vigorous looking. Someone once gave me a plant thinking I could grow it. No such luck, it died in the vegetable garden without ever doing much.

I purchased a pack of Green Globe artichoke seeds, Cynara scolymus, and planted them in a good seed starting mix. The package suggested I plant plenty of seeds because about 20 percent of the seeds would be useless and I'd need to abandon the smaller, as well as albino plants, at the time of transplanting. That would be no problem, I only wanted one or two healthy plants to grow to maturity. And I planned to grow them in large clay pots in my front yard so visitors would see them and praise me for my artichoke growing skill.

Green Globe artichoke seedlings planted in early February germinated quickly.
Individual artichoke plants transplanted into four inch pots where they'll grow until I transplant them into the vegetable garden or large containers.

I probably should have planted the seeds in December and kept them in the greenhouse so they'd be ready for the garden by the middle of March. I didn't get them planted until early February so I had a little later start than I wanted. It didn't take long for the seeds to germinate and before I knew it, I had seedlings that needed to be transplanted from the flat into small four inch pots. By late February, my artichoke plants were sitting out on a fenced grow table, safe from birds and wildlife, where they received plenty of sunshine and regular watering. (2010)

Editor's note: This article will be updated in May or June, 2010.

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