Sure, I can be more specific. I'm going to post it here in the thread because there may be other people who I confused with my first ramblings.
First of all, I have a question for you Frank, what type of artichokes did you try in the past? I’m just curious because I got my Imperial Star seeds from Johnny’s and it says on their website that they are supposed to produce flowers the first year, like an annual. From what I understand, artichokes are perennials and found in areas where winters are mild and flower the second year. Nearly 100 percent of the US artichokes are grown in Monterey, CA. So in cold areas, it would be hard to keep them alive through a winter so that they can flower for you.
So I had read that you can grow artichokes as an annual. You can spur flower growth the first year, by chilling the young plants, at about 6 weeks old, before planting out. They need 250 hours of below 50 degree and above 35 degree temperatures.
I started my first set of seeds February 14. The seeds are very hard shelled. Only two sprouted, one of them white (I dunno why). Only one, the green one, survived.
Started second batch of seeds February 28, by sprouting in damp paper towels in a ziplock bag in my kitchen first, then transferring to seed starting mix in small cells. Takes a few days for them to sprout, but I didn’t record exactly how long. I just check them daily. Got another white one again, but it did not survive either. They stayed indoors, under fluorescent lights in my basement, which is about 50-58 degrees in the winter, I think.
March 28, I potted them up into 20 oz Styrofoam cups (holes in the bottom for drainage of course) into potting mix (MG if you want to know). Still in the basement under lights.
April 20, at 7 weeks, I started putting them outside. I thought it was too cold at 6 weeks. I would watch the weather forecast and if it was supposed to be near 35 degrees, I’d put them in my cold frame, if not, they stayed outside on my patio step. If it was to be frost, I brought them inside, which wasn’t often. They never experienced frost.
May 17, I planted them out permanently in my garden in my raised planting beds with lots of shredded leaves added in the fall. The plants were still pretty small. I was prepared to cover them if there was a frost warning, but I never had to.
Incidentally, I made my cold frame out of lumber and a window that was torn out of my house during a renovation project this spring. I have enough materials to make three more and I think we will do that sometime in the future. All I have to buy is a couple of hinges. I prop the top open with a 2x4.
Recently, I read that Imperial Star artichokes are supposed to flower the first year. So now I'm wondering if I even needed to do all that. But as I said, it didn't hurt! As of yesterday 5 out of 6 of my plants have buds.
I don't grow in many containers, so I don't know about the five gallon container. But it couldn't hurt to try. I'm always willing to try something myself. I would just watch that they stay watered in the containers. I noticed my containers dry out faster than my planting beds and I have to watch them. Of course, you know more about container growing than I do, but I just wanted to mention it because they got shriveled if they dried out. They are big plants. I probably planted mine closer than you're supposed to. The recommendation is 3-4' apart! But I pretty much plant everything intensively in my raised beds and get lots of produce. I figure that added depth of the bed makes up for some of the closeness. Anyway, it was either plant them close, or try to find a home for one or two plants. It seems more trouble than just sticking it in the ground! So far, they aren't doing bad, so I'm knocking on wood that it will all be okay. I am going to try to protect them with leaves in the fall and see if they will survive the winter.
Hope I didn't leave anything out!
