Has anyone grown artichokes?

[ipaintedmyhousewhite]

So far this is without a doubt my most disease/pest prone plant. Is this the common experience, or my plant perhaps suffering from poor placement in the garden? It had a mighty aphid problem, then some other brown leaf-like bugs (couldn't tell if they were damaging it or not, there was so much damage to the plant already), now it's got black mildew, but it doesn't seem to be where the aphids were eating, which is where I expected it. It's around the base of the plant and has completely destroyed the two newest leaves that were forming. Thoughts, anyone?

[sanclementegrrl]

Make sure it is getting a ton of sun and you are not overwatering it. I can't kill them here is san clemente and they litterly grow like weeds. So make sure you have a sunny location and are not deluging them with H2O.

[mrtomatoexpres]

hi ipainted i do not now if you ever seen the little rascals it may choke artie but it aint choking stimmy i do not thing i spelled his name right :D :) :rolleyes:

[ipaintedmyhousewhite]

Sorry, not familiar with Little Rascals...yeah the artichoke ate it. I'm sure it didn't get enough sun and probably too much water. I thought that spot would get more sun than it did. Oh well. I'll try again next year :)

[goldpearl]

My little artichokes haven't grown much yet. I read that they like rich soil, so I added lots of compost before planting them. Maybe I am overwatering them, too. I am always trying to get something to sprout this time of year.
I will probably go ahead and start some more in another location and see if they do better. I will probably need to cover them over the winter here in Texas or dig them up and replant next spring. I would love to get them established and happy here.

[TastyofHasty]

Mine are doing good. Except they are now into the "old and dry" stage. Only ate about 4 of 'em while they were young and tender ... didn't know. Will know better NEXT year ... IF they come back(?) You have to grab 'em when they're in the edible stage & if you can't eat 'em all, just preserve the 'chokes' somehow. And in one of my books about how to prepare food from the garden I read "soak in salt water for about 30 minutes to drive out worms." (It said that about broccoli.) Thought that might be a great idea for the artichokes, & two little green caterpillar-lookin' worms showed up in the salt water! Mine are grown from seed, called "Green Globe," started in little pots, transplanted last year into rich soil (I call it that ... my hand-dug dirt with all the rocks I could find thrown out and horse manure, grass clippings, & leaves added) (and last year we had DROUGHT, so they didn't get much water) ... piled oak leaves from the road about a foot all over 'em for the winter; this spring they grew artichokes! I also am in Zone 6b or 7, right on the CUSP as they say in ASTROLOGICAL CIRCLES. :) Oh yeah, and I "plant by the moon," follow the almanac times for planting, etc. Don't know if that really makes a difference ... might be just psychological, I "need" somebody to tell me when to plant(??) But it's worked fer me. :rolleyes:
Here's a segment of the photo I attached in the "Off Topic" "Solar Shade Cloth substitute" thread ... showing the artichokes ... (remember to hit the BACK button when leaving the photo, NOT the "X" to close the window!! which I do & then I've left the webpage :eek: ;) )

[ipaintedmyhousewhite]

Oh, thanks for the picture. Those are really something. Yeah, I'm going to scheme about a better spot for them and try again next year...also, very interesting about the salt water soak. Gross and fascinating, the thought of hidden worms.

[werecat]

Maybe I will give a shot to growing them along the side of my garage in the spring in the painted tires. That area has lots of sun and I should be able to mulch the tar out of them over the winter with lots of dry leaves from my yard and the one nice neighbors yard. *begins thinking* or maybe straw. need to thing of a combination of what is good for plants as well as what would best irk the other neighbors. :)

[johno]

I planted purple artichokes this spring, some a little early, some a little late. The ones I planted early are batting 1000; the ones I planted late are barely hanging on. Don't know if this helps or not, but I'm in zone 6b.

[Margey Maples]

I have, this year and last, planted artichokes and cardoons. Pregerminating them in March generally helped germination, as w/o it they have not come up very well. The variety of artichoke I am growing is 'Green Globe', and the plants grown from seed last year came back well with minimal winter protection. The cardoon is outrageous right now, a gorgeous thistley thing. (A good thing I'm in the country, as it would not go oer well in a suburban neighborhood) Last year's artichokes produced a few heads; I'm awaiting this year's crop which should come in August.

[TastyofHasty]

I left the 'chokes on the plants to let 'em go to seed. As with most plants when in the "seed-bearing" stage, they have gone pretty scraggly-looking now; the chokes opened up and made the most gorgeous bright fluorescent-looking purple thistle-flowers, then dried to brown and (at least one) is now showing (a few) little white threads on the top ... I think those are the beginning of the material that allows the seeds to "float away on the wind," when they are completely ripe. I'm just leaving 'em alone and letting them do their thing.

The Seed to Seed book said artichokes need to be "cut back" in summer ... erm ... wonder what that means?? chop off the top of the plant?? I'm not doing that, being intent upon getting my next eight years' worth of seed in one go ... well ... maybe I SHOULD do that to SOME of 'em(???)