- In this video, we will show you
how to grow absolutely fantastic artichokes,
no matter where you live in the world.
So artichokes are a fascinating plant,
not only because they're very low-maintenance,
but also because we eat a part of them
you traditionally don't really eat in the garden
when you're growing these vegetable crops,
and that would be the flower, flowering part of the plant,
the main flower stalk, when it's unopened and immature.
So you'll see this little flower stalk.
Then it will open up.
If you let it just keep on growing,
it has this beautiful purple flower
that's honestly one of the most beautiful flowers
you'll see in the garden,
and the pollinators love it as well,
so you could just let it grow that way.
But we cut it off right before it gets to that point,
and then, of course, we steam it
or we cook it up, we get into that heart,
we dip it in the spinach and artichoke tip,
do all sorts of good stuff in the kitchen with it.
So let's get into how the artichoke grows,
and then we'll get into some specific care guides,
even for you colder-climate growers.
So how do artichokes grow?
Well, you can see a pretty mature plant right here.
Of course this one has not started flowering yet
for the season, but what you will normally see is,
in spring, early to mid, maybe even late spring,
depending on where you live,
what you'll see is a flower stalk,
a central stalk will start to shoot up right here,
and there'll be that main flower.
But also, you will start to see some off-shoots
where you can get more than one artichoke per plant.
It looks like our garden mascot here,
Babka, is all about the artichoke life.
(cat meows)
And what Babka had to learn when
she was growing artichokes is
that artichokes are a perennial plant
that oftentimes they don't really produce
in their first year, and the reason why is
because they need to experience a cold season
to then throw up that flower shoot.
So if you're in a zone 7-plus, like me,
here in zone 10b, it can be a good idea
to start your artichokes in late summer,
going through fall.
They'll go into that first cold season
and then, come spring of next year,
voila, you'll have your first shoot.
You can also buy a prevernalized
or pre-chilled root crown that you can plant
instead of growing it from seed.
Knowing what we know about artichoke production,
how do you grow this if you are in a really cold climate?
Well, it is still possible.
You just have to fake the plant out
and make it think like it's two years old
when you plant it in the spring.
This is a technique that Eliot Coleman developed.
Before you get into this technique,
it's a good idea to pick varieties
that are well-suited for colder climates,
like Colorado star or imperial.
Okay, here is how you grow artichoke
in a very cold zone and how you force
it to be two years old when it's only one year old.
The first thing you wanna do is start your seed
indoors for six weeks, much like
you'd start any other seed.
Six weeks, warm, heated area.
Let it mature, and then the next six weeks,
before spring comes in, you wanna drop the temperature
no lower than 25 degree Fahrenheit,
but it must be pretty cold,
'cause you have to get that vernalization period going.
So whether you do this indoors
or in some sort of protected, but outdoor,
colder area for six weeks,
you're gonna be in a good spot.
Then plant it into the spring
and let it go through a classic spring
and summer cycle.
So you're sort of forcing it to think
that it has gone through one cold season already,
and then it will start producing those unopened flowers
that we like to harvest as artichoke.
Let's talk now about lighting, placement, and watering.
I'm gonna use my patch here as an example, in zone 10b.
Really, this is the ideal climate.
It's going to be a Mediterranean climate.
Most artichoke production is coming out of Italy.
If it's not, it's coming out of coastal California.
So yeah, I'm in a great climate for it.
But what you wanna give it is a spot with
more or less full sun.
It can tolerate some shade.
This actually gets a little bit of morning shade here,
but for the rest of the day, it's in full sun,
and it's got nice, deep watering.
That really is one of the keys.
Less frequent watering, more deep.
I actually have mine set up on a laundry gray water system,
which is basically a system that takes
my laundry water and recycles it out
here into the yard.
You definitely don't have to do that.
But just keep in mind, a healthy layer,
three, four inches of mulch.
I'm using just chips here.
And then deep watering right
at the root base will keep it nice and cool.
These are huge leaves that need a lotta water
and they can wilt out if it gets too hot.
So placement, full sun.
Ideal temperatures are going to be somewhat moderate.
But yes, you can grow it in a variety of conditions.
Now let's talk growing artichokes in containers,
especially if you are in that colder zone,
it can be a great idea it put it
in a 15-gallon or so container,
and then just bring it in,
or in a protected area, during that cold part of the season
so that it has that vernalization,
and then it comes back next year.
But for you balcony or apartment growers,
I think you'll be surprised to know
you can grow an artichoke in a container
as small as a single gallon.
In fact, our assistant here at Epic Gardening,
Natalie, and her garden surprised us.
She had a single-gallon pot
where she was growing an artichoke.
This is actually five gallons here,
or maybe even three.
Nevertheless, still bigger than one gallon,
and she was growing an artichoke
that had eight baby chokes on it.
So you certainly can grow it.
The only thing you're gonna have to worry about
with a smaller container is way more frequent watering,
way more likely to dry out that way,
especially if you're growing in a grow bag like this.
So if it's a smaller container, definitely water.
I wouldn't say that's optimal,
but it is certainly possible,
and that's what matters here at Epic Gardening,
is it possible to grow it?
Yes, it is.
I would say get closer towards a 15-gallon,
maybe even a 20-gallon, so you have a nice amount
of space to grow those beautiful artichoke leaves
you see behind me, and then deep watering,
a little mulch on top, you're good to go.
And if it gets a little too unwieldy,
maybe you're growing on a balcony or something,
you can actually take these leaves
and clip them in half.
You'll still get most of the value out of that leaf,
while conserving a bit of space.
Okay, there are some varieties to keep in mind.
I think going basic, certainly nothing wrong with that.
Green globe, imperial star.
I think all the ones that you see
here before you are green globe,
which is a globe-style, more spherical in nature,
and just sorta basic.
I mean there's really nothing wrong with it.
They perform extremely well.
However, there are some other varieties to consider.
So there's a different-shaped artichoke
that's called the Violetta variety.
So instead of being more spherical,
it kinda goes more like that.
It's a little more elongated, and it's also spineless.
Then you have purple or reddish-tinted artichoke varieties
that you could definitely try out.
And finally, if you wanna get a little ancient,
you could go with a cardoon.
It is related to the artichoke.
It's almost a predecessor to the artichoke,
that you're harvesting more for its leaves
than for the actual unripe or unopened flower.
In fact, my friend, Kyle, over at Urban Farmstead
on Instagram is a huge cardoon fan.
I think he grows more of those
than he does artichokes.
So if that's something you're interested in,
definitely give it a try.
Let's imagine that this is your artichoke
and it has grown to a point where
you do have the unopened flower
and you're wondering when to harvest it.
It really is crucial that you harvest it
before the buds start to peek open,
because at that point, it starts to get tough.
You start to really not want to eat it.
So as soon as the buds fill out,
but well before it opens up at all
and starts to separate, that's when you need
to come in with your snips (clicks tongue)
and decapitate it.
Once you've harvested your beautiful main artichoke,
as well as any of the side shoots
that will have produced in the spring,
you then have to do the unthinkable
and actually chop the plant off all the way at the base.
So come in with some snips, all the way at the base,
right where it meets the soil, chop it down,
especially if you're in a milder zone,
like zones 8-plus.
During the summer, pile some mulch on top
and just let it be.
You can reduce your watering in the summer,
and then maybe increase it slightly in the fall.
You'll start to see a new stalk come up
as temperatures fall.
You might even get an artichoke in fall,
but at the very least, you'll get
all this green growth,
resetting itself through winter, into spring.
Now, if you're in a colder zone, like 7 or below,
what you'll wanna do is basically the same thing,
but put a lot more mulch on top
as an insulative layer so it makes
it through winter without actually freezing
all the way through.
Let's talk now about propagating artichokes.
This is one that I just planted.
So you see it's one stalk coming up.
That's all we got.
Babka is very curious about it.
She loves artichokes.
But what we have here is a much more mature plant,
and what you'll notice, if you look very carefully,
is, actually, it's not one plant.
You can see there's one right there,
and then, right next to it, there's another,
and that's exactly how these plants propagate themselves.
Due to the perennial nature of artichokes,
this is just sort of a bonus feature
that they offer to you, as the grower,
is they propagate themselves,
which can eventually become a problem
as they get to their third, fourth year of life.
What ends up happening is you have one main one,
this, in fact, is actually two,
and then, voila, there's two,
and then there's three, then there's four.
Eventually they start to choke
themselves out of the nutrients
in the soil available right around
where you planted the main one.
And so what you can do is, every three or four years,
you can dig them up and divide them,
which means cut them away from one another
and replant them.
But an easier way to do that is to do it
as the seasons roll on, a lot more proactively.
So instead of letting this one get
to two huge stalks, like I have here,
what I could've done is watch really closely,
right down here, at the base, for the main one,
and then a small bud to be coming out this way.
Grab a trowel (clicks tongue), separate it off,
and replant it.
So that's what I'll be doing this season,
as these grow, is just kind of watching
and replanting here and there.
Maybe I'll steal a couple, put 'em in a container.
But once you plant artichokes and learn
to grow them successfully, you will be able
to propagate them ad nauseam for pretty much the rest
of your life.
Artichokes really are one of the
most fun plug-and-play perennial crops
to add to your garden.
We talk a lot about annuals here on the channel.
We don't talk a lot, sometimes,
about these perennial favorites
that just keep on going, year after year.
And they're so easy to grow, no matter where you live.
So get some artichokes in your garden this year.
Good luck in the garden and keep on growing.
Babka says, grow your, ow (laughs).
Babka says, grow your artichokes.