Its botanical name is Cynara scolymus and belongs to the Asteraceae family. Despite the cold, winter is one of the seasons that I like because I enjoy a cup of hot chocolate sitting on the couch and watching TV to return to work as well as preparing a meal with a vegetable station for dinner. Artichokes are a delight that reminds me of my childhood when my grandmother put them to marinate in a mixture of vinegar, oil, garlic, and chopped fresh parsley. If you like, then I’ll tell you how to plant artichokes in your urban garden.
How to plant artichokes
Artichokes produced in the organic garden are much more robust and significant. To sow artichokes at home, the first thing you have to consider is the weather. Daytime temperatures should be 24 ° C and night 13 ° C, as it is a winter crop. Prevents frost and temperatures descend 4 ° C, since the harvest may be damaged.
Moreover, the soil is also an important point when planting artichokes because it has a deep root system. Although it can adapt to different soil types, artichokes grow much better in those who are fertile, sandy, and well-drained. Avoid having low moisture conservation, but simultaneously verifies that the soil does not retain excess moisture since waterlogging are not appropriate.
Before planting artichokes, it is crucial that you make efforts to aerate the soil. You can grow artichokes through seeds, seedlings, or suckers. In the first case, the harvest is annual, and the fruits will be much more robust. The process is simple since only have to plant two or three seeds artichokes on earth, each 2 cm, placed in lines at a spacing of 60 to 90 cm.
If you’re going to sow the artichokes by tillers, you have to take them from the mother plants between February and March. Then it cuts its leaves and roots and plant suckers in nurseries, in lines spaced 10 cm.
Irrigation and harvesting
Irrigates artichokes frequently during their growth period. The first thing to do is watering at planting to water allow the plant to take root well. When the plant is at its mature stage, you must continuously water. As for the harvest, harvesting begins in October, arriving until May or June. In the first harvest, you have to collect 25% of production and in the other 75%.
Some indicators that artichokes are ready to be harvested is when the buds have a characteristic green color, are well trained and are compact. When the buds are ripe, bracts acquire a brownish color and also are very hard, while the centers are hairy and have a color ranging from pink to purple.
For your artichokes, have an excellent look eliminates weeds and remove the seedlings that have not rooted in the soil after planting irrigation. If you want to benefit the development of tillers accrediting production next year, you must perform pruning when the plant is starting to dry.