Artichokes???

Have any of you planted or [tried] to plant Imperial Star or Green Globe artichokes?
I set 12 Imperial Star seeds on Feb. 2nd and none had taken to sprout (within 21 days) by March 4th.
I did, however, call Pintree Gardens and they are sending me a replacement pkt of 12 seeds (B-4 it gets too late to set them). Any of you who can help me set these artichokes will be most appreciated.
THANKS!

Oh I was looking for artichoke seeds the other day at Lowes and they didnt have any
I have grown them but not long enough to get a artichoke, just the plant. This year i wanted to start some early
I may have to go out and look at some more stores!!! I will keep mine in containers in the GH i think to keep them growin as long as possible. I had no trouble with them sprouting!

I tried them a couple of years ago and none sprouted for me.

THANKS notmartha and hemlady for your responses.
I have a replacement pk coming from Pintree (Superseed) Seeds, plus, I ordered a pk from Burpee. They should be in by next Tue. ???
Most stores in the MI area do not stock artichoke seeds because of the low profile they have. In fact, I haven't seen any fresh artichokes in any stores around here (Algonac).
I went on-line (Google) to artichoke producers and I asked if they had any suggestions for me growing them in my 30' X 40' garden. That was yesterday and I haven't heard anything as of yet. If you are interested, I'll email you what they send me.....IF...any growers reply.
Thanks again for your response.

my dh got me a pack of emerald artichokes last night at Lowes!! going to get them started today!

This message was edited Mar 10, 2007 9:14 AM

notmartha...LOTS O'LUCK with your artichokes.
My replacement seeds came in yesterday and I am getting them started today (at 5 A.M.).
I am going to use soiless mix this time in place of [a] "professional mix" for plants. It may have been too rich and that is why my "chokes" didn't sprout.
As soon as I get a sprout, it goes into our "walk-in cooler" (2 rooms which we do not heat in winter). Hopefully that "fools" the seedlings into thinking they have survived a winter.
I have noticed that there is almost a 80-90 % failure rate among choke seeds. (?)...time will tell.
Later!
PS: I found on the Internet that a 2' X 3' X 3' foot cardboardbox with a 40W light bulb in it will produce temps around 80-85 degreesF. Sounds like a CHEAP style "greenhouse" to me. I am going to try it and will let you know. Now I gotta find a "small" themometer somewhere. So far, NONE of the nurseries around here have what I need.

my chokes are sprouted!!! will post the germination rate tomorrow!
well i went and counted and out of 12 seeds 11 are sprouted!!!
I hope i can grow them long enough to get chokes!

This message was edited Mar 19, 2007 9:14 PM

make that 100% all 12 are up now!!!

That's great Dori, I should have started mine indoors and maybe I would have had some germination. I directly sowed outdoors and not a one came up.

YAHOOOO! I now have 8 out of 12 artichokes sprouted since the 11th.
I'm giving a few more days for the other 4 to sprout. They are in the kitchen window with a grow light for extra "sun" but not extra temp.
IF...the other 4 have not sprouted, I will stick what has in our fridge in the polebarn to set [a] winter on the sprouts, especially since we are to have above 50 degree temps for the next several days.
It won't be long and I will have them put in our garden. In fact, I have a load of top soil coming in Mon. and I will mix 10 months of compost in and set the "chokes about 12" deep and 6' apart.
Wish me luck!
Later!