How to plant and grow artichokes: tricks to take advantage of the artichoke season

The artichoke is native to Asia Minor and North Africa.. Greeks, Romans and Carthaginians ate artichokes fresh or preserved in honey and vinegar to enjoy them all year round. Its scientific name, Cynara scolymusIt comes from Greek mythology. Zeus fell in love with Cynara and, as she resisted his love for her, he transformed her into a thorny plant. In the Middle Ages, the Arabs, who called it al-kharshûf, they introduced it in Spain. But, how to plant and cultivate the artichoke to be able to enjoy this legendary plant?

By Gabriela Escrivá, expert in ecological orchard-garden

Artichoke plant: characteristics

Depending on the variety, the artichoke can reach a height of between 1.4 and 2 meters. It belongs to the Asteraceae family, like sunflowers and daisies, and it is cultivated for its fleshy and tasty inflorescence.

In hot and temperate climates, does well in winter and spring. On the other hand, in cold lands, it does so from spring to early summer.

It’s a multiannual crop, so that it remains in the same plot for 2 or 3 years. In Spain there are three emblematic producing areas: Tudela, Benicarló and El Prat.

How to grow artichokes from cuttings?

The most common way to multiply this plant is by lateral cuttings or “clogs”, which grow at the base and are genetically identical to the parent plant. It is best to do this task from July to September in temperate zonesand from March to April, in the coldest points.

Each nut you select should be vigorous, with a piece of root and buds well visible at the base. Check their health status. If you see holes, it could be being attacked by the screwworm. Pathogenic fungi are evidenced by mold on the base.

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How to plant the artichoke?

Planting is the other optionespecially if you have obtained seeds of a certain artichoke variety and want to add these plants to your garden.

The process is longer and takes from 8 months to a year until harvest time. On the other hand, with the clogs you can harvest at 4 or 5 months.

How to transplant artichokes?

You can choose various designs. The most common is in line, separating 70-80 cm each artichoke.

Make a hole and put the stake inside. If you have planted them, place the seedling with 4 leaves in the hole definitive. Cover with a 5 cm layer of compost and, above, a organic mulch.

Artichoke plant care

He drip irrigation It is a great solution so that you almost do not worry about care. They are rustic and generous plants.

You can also add them to the garden design, since they are very ornamental. Each shoot from the mother plant produces a large artichoke. or central inflorescence. Then you will see that they will appear 3 to 5 smaller artichokes on the sides.

From the third artichoke harvested, it is convenient to set aside the mulch a bit and renew the layer of compost. The purpose of this task is that the nutrient reserves of the soil or of the plant are not depleted in order to have continuous production and good-sized artichokes.

In the height of summer, stop watering so that the plants enter vegetative rest. From July to September, cut the stems and restart the thinning and replanting process.

Tricks for a good harvest of artichokes

Keep in mind what the artichoke likes the most to ensure a magnificent harvest:

Floor: He prefers deep with background fertilizer and with regular contributions of mature compost.Irrigation: frequent, but does not tolerate excess moisture. It suffers from lack of watering.Light: cultivate it best in full sunAlthough it tolerates some shade.Associations: lettuce, radishes and endives they grow well in open spaces at the beginning of plant growth.

The production of artichokes decreases from year to year. That’s why in family gardens plants are renewed every 2 or 3 years. A strategy is change only half. This way you will have old plants that are not very productive but early, and new plants that will take longer to bear fruit, but are very productive.