Artichoke

Plant family

Daisy family (Asteraceae)

Season Overview

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Very humid

Soil

Light (sandy)

Nutrient requirement

High

Seeding distance

100 cm

Row spacing

100 cm

Seeding depth

1 cm

Instructions

End of August

Picking

Description

The artichoke is a thistle-like cultivated plant of the composite family (Asteraceae). The artichoke group of varieties is cultivated for its edible, budded inflorescences and eaten as a flowering vegetable. Test suggested

Growing tips

For artichokes, it is best to grow them in a warm place. From mid-January, the plants can be sown in a light, warm place in a seed box with humus-rich, loose soil. If you soak the seeds in warm water for a day, they will germinate faster. During the juvenile stage, a lot of light is necessary so that the plants do not shoot up, but remain short and stout. Once the seedlings are too dense in their seed tray, you can prick them out and transplant them individually into pots. When the seedlings have three to five leaves, they are ready to be planted in a sunny bed with loose soil. Before that, work three to five liters of compost per square meter into the bed. During the culture you should always water sufficiently. In the first year, artichokes develop only a few of the coveted buds. From the second year, the harvest is larger, but you need to bring the perennials well through the cold season. In a place protected from the wind, they can survive frost to minus ten degrees. For wintering outdoors, tie the leaf scapes tightly together or cut off all the leaves. Then put a wicker basket over the plants and protect them all around with dry straw or leaves, which you pile up about hand high. It is best to dig up the rootstocks, embed them in boxes or large pots in moist sand and place them in a frost-free, but preferably cool room. From the beginning of April of the following year, remove the covers. Artichokes that have been overwintered indoors are then planted out again. With annual varieties, you can save yourself the winter protection measures and simply grow new plants in the spring.