Artichoke
Cynara cardunculus
Asteraceae · sunflower family
Origin · Mediterranean
- Matures
- 4–6 months
- Harvest
- Over a period · Perennial
- Sun
- 6–8+ hrs
- Spacing
- 24–48 in
Planting window
When to sow, by microclimate — foggier blocks run a different calendar than sunnier ones.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foggy | ◐ | ● | ● | ◐ | ◐ | ◐ |
| Sunny | ◐ | ● | ● | ◐ | ◐ | ◐ |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foggy | ◐ | ◐ | ● | ● | ● | ◐ |
| Sunny | ◐ | ◐ | ● | ● | ● | ◐ |
Sunlight
How well it does at each level of direct sun per day.
Soil depth
Root room it needs — useful for sizing raised beds and containers.
Soil pH
The soil acidity it grows best in — most crops sit just below neutral, so this mostly matters for heavily amended or long-reused beds.
- Preferred range
- pH 6.5–8.0
Spacing
Room each plant needs — along the row and between rows — for sizing beds.
- In-row
- 24–48 in
- Between rows
- 72–90 in
Growth habit
The shape it makes in the bed and how tall it gets — what tells you whether to give it a trellis, a stake, or just room.
- Habit
- Upright
- Mature height
- 3–6 ft
Stands on its own; the tallest types appreciate a stake in wind.
Growing in containers
Whether it does well in a pot, planter, or window box — the SF balcony-and-deck question, weighing its footprint, form, and staying power, not just root depth.
Better in open ground — it wants more root room, spread, or staying power than a pot gives.
How to start it
Sow it where it grows, or raise it under cover and set it out — and how far ahead to start the seedlings if it's the latter.
- Usually
- Transplant
- Start indoors
- 12 weeks ahead
Started under cover, then set out as a seedling.
Getting started
How it goes in the ground — how deep to sow or set it, and the soil temperature it needs to wake up. The cold-soil floor is the real limiter for direct-sowing in a foggy SF spring.
- Started from
- From seed
- Ideal soil temp
- 70–80°F
- Sow depth
- 0.25 in
- Time to emerge
- 8–12 days
Germinates between 70–80°F; happiest around 70–80°F.
Watering & feeding
How thirsty and how hungry it is — the water it wants and how much feeding the bed needs to keep it producing. In the fog belt even a thirsty crop drinks less than it would inland.
- Water need
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Heavy feeder
Wants steady, even moisture — roughly an inch a week, a little more in a heat spell.
Hungry — enrich the bed well before planting and feed through the season to keep it going.
Water deeply and steadily through the season — this shallow-rooted perennial dislikes hot, dry soil and needs even moisture to keep buds tender. A hungry crop: enrich the bed heavily with compost/manure at planting and feed nitrogen through growth.
Pests & diseases
What tends to trouble this crop — what it is, what you'll see, and what to do about it, least-toxic first.
Pests4
Aphids
- What it is
- Aphids have soft pear-shaped bodies with long legs and antennae and may be green, yellow, brown, red, or black depending on the species and the plants they feed on. A few species appear waxy or woolly due to the secretion of a waxy white or gray substance over their body surface.
- What you'll see
- Low to moderate numbers of leaf-feeding aphids aren't usually damaging in gardens or on trees. However, large populations can turn leaves yellow and stunt shoots; aphids can also produce large quantities of a sticky exudate known as honeydew, which often turns black with the growth of a sooty mold fungus.
- What to do
- Before planting vegetables, check surrounding areas for sources of aphids and remove these sources. On the other hand, these aphid-infested weeds can sometimes provide an early source of aphid natural enemies.
Artichoke Plume Moth
- What it is
- Adults of the artichoke plume moth vary in color from buff to brownish buff, with a wing expanse of 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches. Both fore and hind wings are divided into lobes, giving the appearance of several pairs of wings; the hind wings are fringed.
- What you'll see
- Larvae may chew holes in choke bracts, new stems, and leaves and bore into stem and buds. Larvae may also bore into the crown below the soil surface.
- What to do
- Cut all plants down to ground level for 2 or 3 months once a year. Remove all thistles and related plants.
Cutworms
- What it is
- Cutworms are dull brown caterpillars ranging in length from 1 to 2 inches when fully grown. They curl into a C-shape when disturbed.
- What you'll see
- Cutworms feed on blossoms and leaves of many ornamental plants and attack most garden crops. They clip off seedling stems near or just below the soil level.
- What to do
- Cutworms are pests mainly in the spring. Destroy crop residues; keep garden weed-free in winter.
Snails and Slugs
- What you'll see
- Snails and slugs feed on a variety of living plants and on decaying plant matter. They create irregular holes with smooth edges on leaves and flowers by scraping with their rasp-like tongues.
- What to do
- It will not be possible to eliminate some shelters, such as low ledges on fences, the undersides of wooden decks, and water meter boxes, so make a regular practice of trapping and removing snails and slugs from these areas. The survivors congregate in the remaining shelters, where you can more easily locate and remove them.
Diseases1
Botrytis Rot (gray Mold) on Artichokes
- What you'll see
- The fungus that causes gray mold invades flower bracts that have been damaged by insects, snails or slugs, frost, or other factors. Infected bracts turn brown on the outside.
- What to do
- The fungus survives on decaying organic matter. Remove infected plant parts and protect plant buds from damage caused by invertebrates.
Harvest & storage
How to tell it's ready to pick, and how to keep it once it's in.
- Keeps
- WeeksHolds a week or two in the fridge.
- Ready to harvest
- Cut the bud while its scales are still tight and green; the first heads come the spring after planting, and quality falls off in warm weather.
- Storing
- Keeps a week or two cold and humid in the crisper; best used soon while the scales stay tight.
Culinary use & nutrition
What it's for in the kitchen, and the nutrients a 100 g raw serving is a notable source of.
In the kitchen
- Boiled / steamed
Nutrition highlights
- Excellent source
- Copper
- Good source
- Fiber, Folate, Magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Manganese
Share of the Daily Value in a 100 g raw serving (USDA FoodData Central).
Pollinators & wildlife
What this crop offers the garden's wildlife once it flowers — often the payoff for letting a bolting plant stand.
- Bees
- Honeybees and natives — bumble, mason, and sweat bees — working the flowers for pollen and nectar.
Only if you skip the harvest. The part you eat is the unopened bud, so a picked artichoke never flowers at all; let one bud go and it opens into a huge violet thistle head that bees work over for as long as it lasts.
Sources
Growing data on this page is drawn from Cornell CALS Vegetable Growing Guides, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and the other references on our sources page.